


The Years Ahead

by Dragoncreeper161



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: M/M, maybe major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21552853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoncreeper161/pseuds/Dragoncreeper161
Summary: Jonathan's day starts as normal, he gets up orders food because he's too lazy to leave the house for a change and quickly joins into a round of prop hunt with his friends. Things change however when he gets an unexpected visitor at his front door who was covered in blood. Jonathan quickly realizes that the society had been falling apart around him while he casually played video games with his friends. All he can think about is his friends' safety and he is desperate to find them before they too fall to the infection that has crippled society.
Relationships: Evan Fong/Jonathan | H2ODelirious
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

A/N Hello!!! I’ve got a new story here. Well okay so I’m going to try something new and I’m going to try and write two stories at once and also try to stick to a schedule. So we’ll see how this goes if I can't handle two at once then I’ll just choose one and focus on that until it's done, then go back to the other. Anyways I hope you enjoy this story I’ll have the first chapter of the other story up by tonight it’ll be called lost at sea. Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes that I missed, enjoy!!

Jonathan’s eyes fluttered open, the sun was shining on his face through the blinds on the window. Jonathan rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was still tired from his late-night recording session with his friends Luke and Ryan. They played rainbow 6 together in till about 2 in the morning. Now it was 12 in the afternoon and he had another recording session at a quarter past 1 with Evan and Tyler. Jonathan slowly sat up, he let his feet hang off the side of the bed before finally pushing himself off the bed. 

He walked over to his dressers and pulled out a pair of clean clothes. Jonathan changed into his favorite blue hoodie and into a pair of jeans he then shuffled his way into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. He let out a disappointed sigh at the emptiness of his fridge. He hadn’t been to the store in ages, in fact, he hadn’t been outside his house in a long time too. Jonathan sighed and pulled out his phone and called the local pizza place down the road. “I call this place way too much” Jonathan mumbled to himself before someone answered his call. Jonathan quickly placed his order and after being told that his pizza would be there in about 20 minutes he proceeded to hang up. Jonathan made his way to his couch near the front door. He pulled his phone back out and began to play a game to pass the time. 

After playing his phone for what felt like forever Jonathan finally glanced at the time, It was now almost 1 o’clock and his pizza still wasn’t here. “Wow, this guy is late, I’ve never had a problem before, he must be new.” Jonathan stood and walked down the hallway and into a room just outside of his bedroom. Within the room was a desk with a nice PC unit and dual monitors. Jonathan sat down and did his routine check to make sure his Mic and recording software was up and running. Jonathan plugged in his headphone, turned on discord and hopped on to the voice chat. Evan was already online trying to set up a Gmod prop-hunt server they can all play on. 

”Hi, Jonathan how are things going, you ready to play some prop-hunt,” Evan asked cheerfully. 

“All systems are a go, the only thing I’m missing is my lunch,” Jonathan said with a chuckle. 

“What, do you mean?” Evan asked. 

“I ordered pizza and it is about 50 minutes late now!” Jonathan replied

“wait, really!” Evan laughed out. 

“Yes, really,” Jonathan said.

“Oh man than fucking suck, I hope they don’t make you pay for it,” Evan said still chuckling. 

“If it ever comes that is” Jonathan mumbled. 

“What’s up bitches!” Tyler yelled as he entered the call. 

“Hey!” Evan replied, “also could you keep it down I think you're starting to echo because I can hear you from across the hall.” 

Tyler let out a laugh” no promises Evan” 

“Oh, yea that right you're staying at Tyler’s for a bit right“ Jonathan asked. 

“Yea I want to see what Indiana was like and then I’ll go visit my parents before heading back up to Canada” Evan replied. 

“Okay, we don’t got all day here are you ready to play some prop hunt!” Tyler cut in.

“Are you ready to get your ass kicked!” Jonathan shot back. 

“Fuck you, just you wait bitch, I am going to kick your ass so hard you won’t be able to sit for weeks.” Tyler snared back. 

“Okay guys I’ve got the map running you can join now,” Evan said. 

“Ya! Let's do this!” Tyler screamed in excitement. Jonathan joined the server and entered the lobby. 

“Okay, since it’s only the three of us someone will have to be alone” Evan stated. 

“I’ll go alone because I want the honor of kick both your asses” Tyler declared. 

“Good luck with that!” Jonathan sneered back.

“Let the games began!” Evan cried out. 

Evan and Jonathan joined the props and Tyler joined the hunters. Evan and Jonathan scramble around the map trying to find a decent hiding spot before the time ran out and Tyler was released. They both ran into the only house on the map and found their spots. Evan changed into a jug of bleach and ran into the closet, while Jonathan changed into a red soda can and hid under the staircase. 

“All right bitches ready or not here I come.” Tyler marched his through the map and stormed into the house Evan and Jonathan were hiding in. 

“Oh here comes the piggy!” Jonathan teased as Tyler’s character walked in to view. 

“Hey, Fuck you.” Tyler shot back. Evan being bored of just sitting in a closet opened the door and ran out right passed Tyler. “Hey, I saw that, get back here!” Tyler screamed as he started shooting at Evan. 

“Run Evan Run!” Jonathan called out in support of his teammate. 

“No!” Evan cried in disappointment as Tyler shot him. 

“Aw! No! Evan!” Jonathan wined at the loss of his friend. 

“Alright, Jonathan where are you hiding at,” Tyler said as he scoured the rest of the building.

“Come on Jonathan you’ve only got a minute left,” Evan said as he spectated Jonathan in his spot under the stairs.

”Where the Fuck are you!” Tyler screamed. Tyler continued to search and made his way to the stairs where Jonathan was hiding. Tyler stopped and stood there for a bit, everything was silent.

“ So uhh… do you want to come out of there or what,” Tyler said pointing his gun directly at Jonathan. 

“Shit!” Jonathan screeched and made a break for it. Tyler shot his frag grenade directly on top of Jonathan and Jonathan let out a scream of panic thinking he was going to die but the grenade had no effect. 

“What!” Tyler screamed in shock as he started to chase the invincible can, known as Jonathan around the house. Tyler rattled Jonathan with bullets but nothing happened. Jonathan continued to laugh his head off at his friend's distress. “What the fuck, how are you not dead! There’s blood everywhere!’” Tyler shouted as he furiously chased Jonathan. Jonathan was getting to the point where he could no longer breath he was laughing so hard. 

“10 more seconds” Evan proclaimed through his laughs at the ridiculousness of the scene playing out before him.   
”Come on you bitch, Die!” Tyler was about to blow a fuse.   
“5…4…3…2…1.. Props win” Evan shouted in excitement. 

“Fuck you, you bitch” Tyler shouted pure rage filling his voice. 

“I shot you so many times, this game is so broken, fuck Gmod!” Tyler slammed his fists down on his desks. Causing Evan to laugh even harder than before. “Shut up Evan, the only reason you won was because Jonathan chose a broken ass prop.” Tyler ranted. 

Jonathan was laughing so hard he started to wheeze “ I can’t breath” he choked out in between laughs. 

“Fuck you now it’s my turn, try and find me” Tyler growled out as the round ended and the teams switched. The rest of the recording session continued on like normal with an occasional outburst from Tyler here and there. 

“Come on Evan you can do it only 20 seconds” Jonathan cheered, as Evan ran from Tyler trying to dodge the shower of bullets. 

“No…” Evan wined as Tyler finally shot him.

”Ya! gotcha!” Tyler said in excitement. 

Bang, Bang, Bang a pounding sounded erupted throughout the call. 

“Whoa, Evan you all right” Tyler asked in confusion, Evan never rages like that. 

“What that wasn’t me” Evan corrected. “Jonathan was that you?” Evan asked in a curious tone. 

”It was my door, scared the shit out of me!” Jonathan stated. 

Bang…Bang…Bang 

Jonathan’s door could be heard throughout the call but this time it was even louder. “Hang on guys I’ll be right back, maybe the pizza gut finally showed up.” Evan laughed at the comment but Tyler was completely confused about why it was so funny, so Jonathan ended up leaving Evan to explain the joke to Tyler as he took off his headsets and went to go answer the door. 

Bang…Bang…Bang the knocking continued “hang on I am coming” Jonathan called out as he walked to the door and unlocked it. Just as Jonathan was about to turn the door nob, the door swung open slamming right into his face. Jonathan stumbled back gripping his nose in pain as the person on the other side made his way into the apartment, slammed the door closed and locked it. He then slowly leaned against the door. 

”What the hell man, get out of my house,” Jonathan yelled fear flooding his mind as he looked at this strange man. Jonathan’s eyes focusing on the blood spots splattered across his shirt. The man pushed himself off the door and slowly made his way towards Jonathan. 

“Oh my God this guy is going to kill me,” Jonathan thought as the man continued to walk towards him, but the man stopped. 

“You’ve got to help me” the man crocked out gripping his shoulder. Jonathan quickly noticed the amount of blood gushing between his fingers ”you’ve got to help me” the man repeated, ”call an ambulance” the man took another step towards Jonathan before collapsing to the floor.   
“Shit,” Jonathan said rushing to the fallen man. He ran to the bleeding man on the floor and knelt down beside him. He inspected the wound that the man had received. He had a few minor scratches here and there, but the wound that worry Jonathan the most was a single bite wound located just above the shoulder, barely missing his neck. The man coughed and let out a gown of pain when Jonathan moved his shoulder to get a better look at his wound. 

”Dame that’s bad, we to clean it.” The man watched Jonathan run out of the room and come back with a box. Jonathan knelt down beside the injured man. He opened the box and started to clean the wound as best as he could. The man flinched and let out a hiss when Jonathan began to wipe down the wound. “Sorry” Jonathan mumbled. Jonathan put down a blood-soaked rag and started to wrap the wound. The man took a deep breath, the pain growing as Jonathan tighten the bandages around the wound. 

“Thank you for helping me” The man let out another cough. The sudden movement aggravated the newly bandaged wound. Jonathan winced and looked at the bandages. They were brand new and yet they were already halfway soaked with blood. “No problem” Jonathan mutter a reply as he pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket. “We need to call you that ambulance now,” Jonathan said and the man nodded in agreement. Jonathan typed in 9-1-1 into his phone and lifted it to his ear. Jonathan paced around the room waiting for his call to be answered…nothing. 

“Busy” Jonathan groaned. He tried again but got the same results. “Come on!” Jonathan shouted in frustration, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and glanced over at the man on the floor the bandages where soaked and where beginning to drip on the carpet, but Jonathan didn’t care right now, he needed to get this man to the hospital. Jonathan walked over to the man “What even happened to you?” Jonathan asked. “Some guy that I’ve never met before just walked up and attacked me,” the man said letting out a nasty cough. Jonathan rested his hand against the man’s head. 

“You’re burning up. We need to get you to the hospital now!” “Name’s Jonathan by the way,” he said extending his hand to the man on the floor. He took it and Jonathan helped him to his feet. 

”Tim” the man replied. “Come on then I’ll have to take you myself.” Jonathan grabbed his keys and made his way to the door. 

“Wait!” Tim said. “What if he’s still out there.” Jonathan stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t thought about that.

“Well…I guess we should arm our selves in some way” Jonathan looked around his apartment. He didn’t own any guns, he didn’t think he’d ever need one. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a few kitchen knives. ”That’s it!” Tim said in disappointment when Jonathan came back and hand him a knife. 

“No guns?” He asked. ”No sorry, that’s all I have” Tim let out a groan of pain. His shoulder was killing him and his bandages were completely soaked with blood, he was starting to feel weak. 

“We have to go now, you’re losing too much blood.” Jonathan let out a sigh. “Let's just hope he isn’t there anymore” Jonathan slowly opened the door. He peaked his head out into the hallway and looked around… No one. “ let's take the back way to the parking lot, just act natural don’t want to draw unwanted attention to ourselves selves” Jonathan said stepping out into the hallway stuffing the kitchen knife into his jacket pocket.

“ Yes, because my blood-soaked shoulder doesn’t stand out at all...” Tim said sarcastically as he followed Jonathan out the door closing it behind him. Jonathan rolled his eye at Tim’s comment. 

“We’re not far, the parking lot it's just down this flight of stairs, follow me and stay close” Jonathan instructed. Tim nodded and kept close to Jonathan as they made their way down the stairs. Jonathan pushed open the door at the bottom of the stairwell and they entered into the parking lot. “There’s my car,” Jonathan said pointing to a blue average looking car across the parking lot. 

“The blue one right?” Tim asked his eyes started to go crossed and he was having a hard time focusing his eyes on what Jonathan was pointing at. 

“Yes, That’s it. Let’s get going” Tim nodded and started to follow Jonathan to his car gripping his bloody shoulder as he walked. Jonathan walked ahead of Tim as they weaved their way through the rows of cars. Just a few more rows away from his car Jonathan hear a small moan. “Are you okay, Tim” Jonathan asked turning around to check on Tim. Tim shook his head. 

“That wasn’t me.” Tim pointed to a gap between the cars just on the other side of the row. “Sound like it came from over there.” Jonathan gave Tim a puzzled look. 

“Let's keep going” Jonathan began to walk again when hearing another moan. Jonathan shot a look back at Tim. 

“It’s not m... Ahhh!” Tim let out a scream and stumbled back. Jonathan spun around to see what was the matter. Behind him stood a man separating him from Tim. The man reached for Tim growling and snarling as he stepped towards Tim. The Man lunged and Tim stumbled back pulling out his knife. 

“Stay back!” Tim said his hands shaking as he pointed the knife at his attacker. The psychotic man was unfazed by Tim’s threats and charged at Time once again. Tim panicked and swung the knife. 

“Tim! No!” Jonathan screamed. The knife plunged into the man’s chest. Tim shoved the man back and his body slammed into the cars beside them. Jonathan stood there mouth agape at what just happened. 

“What did you do!” Jonathan took a couple of steps back. 

“Oh my God…I am going to be sick” Tim clenched his stomach and looked away. “ I just killed someone!” Tim said still in shock. He gripped his shoulder in pain all the sudden movements really aggravated the wound and it was now bleeding even worse than before. “What are we going to do!” Tim turned to Jonathan. “What are we going to do!” Tim repeated to himself. 

“I don’t know?!” Jonathan said running his hands through his hair. “Are you sure he’s dead” 

“I don’t know” Tim stated as he slowly paced back and forth” ”I mean I just stabbed him through the heart, so I am pretty sure he’s dead!” Tim finally said.

“Then why is he moving,” Jonathan said pointing at the man fear filling his eyes. Tim turned to the corpse of the man he stabbed and to his surprise the man was slowly starting to rise to his feet, the knife still buried in his chest. 

“What the Fuck…” Tim said slowly in aw. The dead man walking shot out at the pair growling and snarling. Jonathan grabbed Tim and pulled him back out of the way. 

“Run!” Jonathan Screamed. They broke into a full sprint towards the car. Jonathan having to pull Tim to help him keep up. They finally made it to the car and Jonathan threw open the door to the drive’s seat and dove in. Tim threw himself into the backseat. Jonathan frantically pressed the lock button, lock all the doors to the car. Jonathan let out a sigh and sunk in his seat trying to catch his breath. 

“Are you okay?” Jonathan asked turning to Tim who lay sprawled against the back seats struggling to catch his breath. Tim just nodded and continued working on his breathing. 

Slam! The car shook a little from the force of something hit the side. Jonathan snapped his head to the window. The man that had been chasing the slammed right it the side of the car. The man pressed his face to the glass and started slamming his fist into the window. Jonathan watched the man repeatedly slam his fists into the door. Tim shouted for Jonathan to dive but he was frozen in fear he couldn’t stop staring at the man’s eyes.

“Wha…What’s wrong with his eyes?!” Jonathan stuttered they were lifeless, clouded, and cold. Like a fish’s eye after its been dead for a while. 

“Goddammit, Jonathan drive!” Tim shouted slamming his foot into the back of Jonathan’s chair breaking him from his trance. Jonathan slammed his keys into the ignition and started the car. Jonathan threw his car into reverse. The tires screeched as they flew back, Jonathan changed gears and floored it, they skidded out of the parking lot and drove down the road. 

Tim sat up and rested his head on the window. Jonathan made a sharp left throwing Tim across the seats. A sharp pain erupted from his wound. Tim grown and sat back and scooted back over to his seat, he strapped on his seatbelt and let his head fall back onto the headrest of his seat. Tim looked down at his wound, the bandages were doing nothing now and a large bloodstain now stretched down the side of his shirt. Tim’s eye started to droop, his head felt heavy, he could barely hold its weight. Tim slowly let his eyes fall. “Just for a bit,” Tim thought to himself “I’ll just rest them for a bit” the lasting he saw was Jonathan’s blue eye looking at him through the rear mirror and he heard Jonathan’s panicked voice “you’ll be all right man just hold out for a little longer”

Tim let out a small nodded before letting his head drop to the side. Jonathan’s eyes widened 

“No, No, No!” Jonathan repeated himself as pulled over to the side of the road. Jonathan climb into the back. “Come on Tim, don’t die on me” Jonathan was panicking Tim’s shirt was drenched in blood and he wasn’t breathing. Jonathan felt his heart sink “Tim…Tim” Jonathan shook him but Tim was unresponsive. 

Jonathan leaned back against the other door and let his head hit the window. He let out a sigh as he held back the tears. “Goddamit… Now, what am I suppose to do Tim...” He looked up at Tim hoping for him to respond. Tim’s hand twitched and his head slowly started to move. 

“Oh my god Tim, your alive!” Jonathan crawled over to him. “ I need you to hold out a little long for me, can you do that… Tim?” Tim let out a small moan. “ I know it hurts, but I can’t do anything about that right now,” Jonathan said trying to comfort poor Tim. 

Tim raised his head and looked at Jonathan. Jonathan felt his heart stopped “Tim…” Jonathan’s voice was full of concern. Tim’s eyes were cloudy and cold just like the man who had attacked them earlier. Tim growled and lunged at Jonathan, Jonathan pushed himself as far back as he could against the car door The seat belt around Tim synched and locked because of the sudden movement.

“Tim! What’s wrong with you stop!” Jonathan screamed his hands fumbling around trying to pull up the lock and kick back Tim. Jonathan wrapped his fingers around the lock a pulled up. He pulled the door handle and fell back out of the car and onto the pavement. Jonathan could hear Tim growing and moaning his fingers clawing at the car seat in a desperate attempt to reach him.

Jonathan stood up and slammed the car door shut. Jonathan panted and let out a shaky breath. Jonathan looked up and scanned the street. It was a mess... cars where abandon in the middle of the street, trash was everywhere, but it was silent dead silent. Jonathan could feel his legs start to shake in fear. A few screams and pleads for help off in the distant finally cause his knees to buckle.

“What the hell is happening,” Jonathan said to himself, “No! This can't be happening! I must be dreaming!” Jonathan shook his head, he pinched himself and look at the car, Tim was still in there reaching for the door.

Jonathan slapped himself. “Wake up damn-it”. Jonathan squeezed his eyes shut ”there's no place like home, there's no place like home.” Jonathan opened his eyes instead of seeing the roof of his apartment and feeling the warmth of his bed like he had hoped he saw the same street, same car, same man, and feeling the despair building up inside himself.

Jonathan's headshot up he could hear the shuffling of a pair of feet, he crouched down and moved to the front of the car. He looked over the hood of the car and saw a woman slowly walking towards him. Jonathan changed his position accordingly to keep out of the lady’s sight. He could hear her growls and knew he mustn’t be seen by her. He had nothing, no weapons besides a flimsy kitchen knife, and no car, he was stranded. 

“Calm down Jonathan, maybe this will all just blow over, until then you just have to find somewhere safe” Jonathan looked back over the hood of the car and watched the woman stop and turn his way. He felt his heart skip a beat and he dropped down to keep out of sight. 

“Please, don’t see me…” He whispered. 

Jonathan slipped his hand into his jacket’s pocket and pulled out his knife clutching it close to his chest. He could feel his heartbeat quicking as she shuffled closer and closer. Jonathan pushed himself harder against the car hoping it would be enough to hide him. He could see the top of her head slowly appearing over the car’s hood, his grip tightened, his heart began to pump even harder and his breath quickened. His hands began to shake as he prepared himself for a fight. Suddenly loud but distant gunshots echoed in the silences causing Jonathan’s heart to jump to his mouth and the lady stopped. Silents once again fell and Jonathan clasped his hand around his mouth trying to muffle his harsh breathing.

Jonathan could hear the shuffling of feet but this time they were heading the other way. He slowly lifted his head above the hood of the car, his knife at the ready. The lady had changed her direction and started walking towards where he thought he heard the gunshots. Jonathan continued to watch her as she walked down the road, occasionally looking over his shoulders to make sure no one was sneaking up on him. Once the lady was a good distance down the road Jonathan let his nerves relax. He let out a sigh his hands still shaking from the adrenal rush. 

“ That was close… too close” he muttered. 

He slowly rose to his feet, using the car hood as support to help him stand. His legs felt like jello, and his body felt like he had just run a marathon. Jonathan tried to compose himself but his heart would not stop racing. At least his legs felt a little better. Jonathan pushed himself off the car and began walking down the street. His ears strained to catch any sort of sounds other than his own heart thumping in his ears. He needed to get off the streets, he was too open. Jonathan crossed over to the sidewalk and entered a convenience store. A bell chimed as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. 

“Hello” Jonathan cautiously called out as he stepped deeper into the store. He glanced towards the counter and saw it unattended. 

“Hello” Jonathan once again called out but the lack of response put him on edge. His inner thoughts screaming at him to leave. He slowly stuck his head around the shelf’s stocked with snacks, and he instantly regretted not listening to his instincts sooner. The row beyond was a grisly sight, blood dripped off the selves pooling into a puddle on the floor, chunks of a pink flesh scattered across the floor, and a trail of blood spawning from the puddle leading down towards the back of the store. Jonathan's stomach twisted and turned because of the horrid smell and not wanting to encounter what made the mess before him, turned and sped out of the store. Jonathan stood outside of the store away from the door. He pushed himself against the wall and gripped his face. He tried to wrap his head around what was happening. Questions flood his mind. 

"Why did Tim attack me like that… no scratch that why did Tim’s eyes look like that man from before. Why wasn’t that man dead, Tim stabbed him right in the chest, even by some miracle that wound didn’t kill him the pain would be unbearable! There would be no chance that he could charge at us like that.” 

Jonathan wasn’t an Idiot, he knew what was happening, he’d played enough video games with these creatures in it, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. He thought it was just a crazy coincidence that Tim had said he was bitten when he was attacked. There was no way it could be true, those were video games, this was real life. 

“There’s no way zombies are real” Jonathan whispered to himself. A small breeze blew by, Jonathan looked down the street, he could see two people slowly stumbling towards his direction. Jonathan narrowed his eyes he could tell that they were one of the infected the way they limped and swayed in the wind. Noone normal walked like that. Jonathan turned and began walking in the opposite direction. He needed to get back to his apartment, he had to warn all his friends, if they didn’t know by now. He also needed to get a bunch of supplies. Jonathan began to pick up his pace. He wasn’t incredibly far from his apartment but it was late and the sun was getting the lower and lower on the horizon. He was unsure if he would make it back in time and he definitely didn’t want to be out in the open when night fell. Jonathan began to jog, the thought of being in the dark with those things driving him to go faster.

Jonathan finally arrived at his apartment complex with minutes of sunlight to spare. He had few encounters with the undead along the way, he only had one close call when jogging passed an abandoned car in the middle of the road. A zombie had been lying on the other side and when Jonathan jogged by it reached out and grabbed him by the ankle causing Jonathan to trip and fall. It was a very close call the zombie was inches for bitting him before Jonathan managed to kick it back before making a break for it. 

Jonathan cautiously approached his apartment building. He could see one of the lower rooms doors open with a trail of blood leading into it, or out Jonathan really couldn’t tell, but all he needed to know was that some of the undead lurked in this area. 

Jonathan held his breath as he approached the building. he entered through the back stairwell that he and Tim had left the building from. He quilty climb the stairs and he soon noticed a trail of blood leading down the hallway. Jonathan cautiously drew out his knife and found himself following the trail. The trail led directly to his door, Jonathan gulp and hope those footprints had been Tim’s. 

Jonathan slowly pushed open his door and remained outside as the door swung open lightly tapping against the wall. He didn’t hear anything stir inside so he proceeded to enter his apartment and close the door behind him. Jonathan let out a sigh of relief because the trail of bloody footprints stopped in the middle of the living room where there was a small pool of blood next to an open medical box. Though that didn’t stop Jonathan from search every room in his apartment. Once he deemed his apartment undead free he plopped down on his bed excused from all the running. This was definitely the most running he’s done in a while, and his body was feeling the effects of his lack of exercise. 

Jonathan felt a familiar vibration in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He had completely forgotten he had this on him, Thank God he kept it on vibrate, had it went off when then that lady was inches away or when he was at the store he would have been absolutely screwed. Jonathan turned on the screen and was surprised about all the missed messages and calls he had, most of them had been from Evan, with a few from Tyler. Jonathan started reading the messages left for him by his friends.

“Dude, how long does it take to get a pizza?” Evan’s first message read. Jonathan continued to scroll pass the messages of annoyance left by Evan and Tyler urging him to hurry up and come back to the recording. It was the last couple of messages that caught Jonathan's attention and caused him to start worrying.

“Oh my God, dude turn on the TV! I can’t believe this is happening, this is a joke right! Whatever you do don’t go outside!” Evan’s text message read.

“Shit, this is not happening… Jonathan, please respond.” Was Evan's last message before he left a voicemail.

“Jonathan! Come on man pick up...” The sounds of Tyler cursing and glass breaking filled the background. 

“Shit!” Evan yelled. “Jonathan I swear to God I better not find your dead ass wander the streets, stay safe Jonathan use all your rainbow six skill and survive. Maybe we’ll meet again one day” Evan was interrupted as Tyler shouted into the phone 

“Tell him if he’s dead I’ll kill him!” more glass shattered in the background. 

“Shit we need to go now!” Growls and pounding could be heard and the message suddenly stopped.

Tears threaten to spill from Jonathan’s eyes. He sniffed and blinked them back. Jonathan cared about his friend more than life itself, and the thought they could be dead scared him. Jonathan found himself texting Evan back, unsure if he would even get it. 

"I don’t know if you’ll ever get this but I’m still kicking for now. I’ve had a few close calls but I am okay… I’m not dead yet and I hope you aren’t either. Maybe one day I’ll see you and Tyler again, I just hope it’s not in the street with you trying to eat me or vice versa. Stay safe…” Jonathan pressed send hoping his friend was alive and well. 

He let out a sigh and sent out a quick warning to everybody else he knew. He then stuffed his phone back into his pocket and stood up. He ran into his closet in the corner of his room and pulled out two large backpacks. He ran to his kitchen and began to dump the content of his cabinets into one of the bags. His bag now contained a box of jello, condensed milk, some soup, a loaf of bread, and a few bottles of water. He also threw in the sharpest kitchen knives he had. 

In the other bag, he packed a bunch of extra clothes and pillows. He also threw in his teddy bear. Jonathan placed the bags by the door. He made his way to the center of his living room and collected his medkit. He checked its contents and found he had mostly used up all of his cloth bandages on Tim. Jonathan shuttered at the thought of Tim and that Evan, Tyler and all his other friends could be just like him. Jonathan pushed those thoughts aside and packed the medkit in where the food was. He then sat down on the couch and flip on the Tv and change the channel to the news making sure to keep the volume muted, and that all the curtains were closed.

Jonathan could deny it no longer, this was really happening. Jonathan watched in horror as the tv showed crude images of people being attacked and eaten. The downtown cities were in utter chaos, buildings were on fire and the military was mowing down the infected and people alike in great numbers, but it wasn’t enough they were being overrun little by little. 

Jonathan shut off the tv not being able to watch any more. He was lucky he lived in a relatively small town, he hadn’t even noticed what was happening. If Tim hadn’t pounded on his door there was a good chance that he still wouldn’t have known about the apocalypse happening just out his door. Jonathan wondered how long it would have taken for him to figure it out. His friend would have probably have tried to warn him but he would have thought they were just pulling his leg. Jonathan began to think about his friends and the thought that they could be hurt or dead crept back into his mind. 

Jonathan shot off the couch and ran to his room. He started pulling books off of his selves, “Come on… I know I’ve got a book of maps around here.” 

He continued to pull book after book off the shelves until he found the one he was looking for. Jonathan quickly flipped open the book and pulled out a map of the east coast. 

“I don’t know why I have this but I’m not complaining now.” Jonathan smiled to himself glad that he had a map, now he might actually have a change pulling this off. He spread the map across his bed, he then pulled out his phone and opened up google maps. He typed in his address in North Carolina, then proceeded to type in tyler’s address in Indianapolis. 

“ 8 days, Fuck!” Jonathan swore. He continued to stare at the route google maps laid out for him. His chances of making it all the way to Tyler's house were slim but what choice did he have, not like he was doing anything else anyway. He was a hundred percent willing to risk his life to make sure his friends would make it through this alive, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared of meeting a cruel and gruesome demise. 

Jonathan carful traced out his route on to the map marking any areas of interest or of potential danger. The riskiest part of this journey besides the distance was that he would be pretty close to some of the major cities. And based on what he saw on the tv he did not want to be there right now, especially since the only weapons he had were a bunch of kitchen knives. Jonathan hoped that he could find some better weapons and even a mode of transportation, he’ll definitely keep his eye out for anything he could find to help increase his survival chances. 

Jonathan wrapped up the map and grabbed the book. He shoved it into his backpack and took a quick glance at the clock. It was only 8:30 and under any normal circumstances, he would never go to bed this early but right now was anything but normal and he was going to need all the rest he could get before his big journey tomorrow. The distance between where he lived and the next town was great and he needs to get there before dark, so that he could have some time to find some shelter for the night. 

He’d definitely have to leave here early so he set an alarm on his phone for 5 in the morning. Hopefully, this would leave Jonathan just enough time to find shelter before it got dark. Jonathan did one more check around his apartment just to be sure nothing would attack him while he slept. He made sure his door was lock and all the lights where off. 

Jonathan slowly poked his head through his curtains and glance out the window. He could see shadows moving in the streets below. Jonathan backed away from the window letting the curtains fall back into place. He then retreated to his bedroom, once inside he locked the door.   
“One could never be too safe” he muttered to himself before he climbed into his bed. Jonathan was surprised how quickly he started to fall asleep given the circumstances but he was exhausted from all the running and planning he had done. Jonathan soon found himself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Hello! Again I’ve finally finished another chapter and I hope you enjoy it! Sorry for any errors I may have missed, and if you have any ideas to make my writing better please let me know! 

Jonathan stirred in annoyance as a little chime echoed throughout the room. He groaned and reached for his phone on the nightstand. He shut the alarm off and slowly sat up. Jonathan let out a yawn and stretched his arms. The sun had yet to come up and the streets were still dark. 

Jonathan slowly stumbled his way to the bathroom to quickly freshen up. He felt a wave of relief when he turned on the faucet and water came out. 

“good that probably means the power is still on,” Jonathan mumbled to himself. 

He didn’t dare turn on a light though it would be like a beacon to the outside world and he didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention. Jonathan straightened out his blue hood and his messy brown hair before stepping out of his bathroom. He quietly unlocked his bedroom door and stuck his head out into the hallway. He took a couple of glances and listened for anything out of the ordinary. After not hearing or seeing any sort of movement he stepped out of his room and into the living room.

He grabbed the two backpacks off the floor and placed them on the couch. Jonathan then slowly pulled open the curtains and pressed his face up to the glass trying to see as far down the corridor outside his apartment door as possible. Nothing caught his eye so Jonathan pulled the curtains shut. He quickly ran to the kitchen and grab all the flashlights and batteries he had, He even grabbed his phone charger.

“why not” Jonathan whispered to himself. 

He threw them into the backpack with the food and did a quick mental check of everything in the bags. 

The first bag which Jonathan deemed more important was bigger than the other one and was dark grey with a muddy green trim. Inside it was all of his food, water, knives, flashlights, the medkit, and the book of maps.

The second bag was light grey with dark blue trim and had a pillow, bundles of blankets, extra clothing, and his teddy bear. Jonathan reached in the bag and pulled out his teddy bear. He gave his beloved complain a quick hug before stuff into the green bag. 

“There, now I am less likely to lose you,” Jonathan said and a small smile stretched across his face. 

He then took the sharpest knife he had and stuffed it into his hoodie pocket, after that he took out a headlamp and placed it on his head. He only planned to use it if absolutely needed. Jonathan bent down and picked up the green backpack and slip the straps onto his back, he then grabbed the lighter gray bag a let it loosely hang off of his shoulder. Jonathan was careful in making sure that the bag on his back was secure, the whole reason Jonathan had moved his teddy bear in the first place was that he did not want to put anything important in the bag that he had the most risk in losing. 

With the Green bag secured on to his back and the other hanging on one shoulder, Jonathan was ready to go. He placed his hand on the handle of his front door, He took a deep breath and readied himself for the chaos and horrors that would await him outside. Jonathan was determined to help his friends, He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

Jonathan went to pull up the door when a loud and startling chime erupted from his back. He felt his heart jump but his nerves quickly settled once he realized what it was. He set his bags down and fished out his phone. He looked at the notifications and saw he had received a message from Luke. Jonathan unlocked his phone and quickly read the message.

“I just got your message now” Luke texted “I’m stuck here in LA with Ryan the military has shut down all the airports and cops have started to quarantine the city, I still don’t fully understand what’s going on”

Jonathan read the text and let out a quick sigh of relief holding the phone to his chest after hearing Luke was still okay. He quickly started to text back, “Glad to see your okay, but how do you not understand what’s going on?” Jonathan texed and Luke quickly responded.

“All I’m hearing is a bunch of rumors, something about a disease that got released by some bioterrorists, but I don’t know what the disease is the military is only telling us so much,” Luke said. Jonathan reread the text a couple of times try to comprehend what Luke had said. Bioterrorist he thought it made sense there no way an infection like this could spring up out of nowhere on its own. but there was a more important detail on his mind that he needed to ask Luke.

“How do you not know what the disease is? Have you not seen them? Jonathan asked and waited for Luke to text back.

“Seen what? Jonathan, what are you talking about?” Luke asked and he stared at the text dumbfounded, how could Luke have no idea about what was happing.

“What have you and Ryan been doing, that you haven’t seen what's going on!” Jonathan texted. 

“We’ve just been at his house playing video games and recording a couple of videos,” Luke said followed by another message. “What’s happening?”  
Jonathan hesitated before responding and carefully thought about how to break the news to Luke. “Look, I know you might not believe me but I’ve seen them with my own eyes and I've had two close calls already” He sent and Luke responded. “Jonathan just tell me already” 

“It’s zombies” He sent and there was a long pause before Luke sent anything back. “You're pulling my leg aren’t you,” he said. “No!” Jonathan quickly texted back. “I’m being serious just check the news,” Jonathan thought about other ways to prove to Luke he was telling the truth when he remembered Evan’s texts and voice mail. He took screenshots of the text messages and sent them along with voice mail to Luke. “If you don’t believe me listen to that and read the texts that Evan sent me” Luke didn’t respond for a while after that and Jonathan started to get worried that he was wasting to much time waiting for him to respond.

Jonathan was just about to give up when luke responded. “You weren’t kidding…” he said. “Holy hell, what are you planning to do” He asked. “As of right now, I’m going to try to make my way to Evan and Tyler then work it out from there” Jonathan texted back. “Maybe then I can convince them to try and make it to LA,” He said but Luke quickly rejected that idea. “No! bad idea its best to avoid big cities” the was a small pause between the text from Luke. “Look I’m talking to Ryan now and we both think its best if we get out of this city as fast as we can. We’ll try to make it you but I’m not too sure if that's possible, I’m not even sure how much longer our phones will work if things are as bad as you say they are” Luke said.

Jonathan stared at the message, he wanted to argue back but deep down he knew Luke was right. There was a really low chance that they’ll ever see each other again and that pained Jonathan to think about. He cared deeply for Luke they basically grew up together and he was his best friend.

Jonathan’s phone chimed as Luke sent another message and Jonathan smiled sadly as he read it. “Good Luck out there Jonathan, Ryan and I are heading out now. Hopefully, you stay safe and manage to find Evan and Tyler, and maybe one day you’ll find us too” Jonathan felt tears start to swell in his eyes as he continued to read Luke’s message. “I’ll try and keep in touch with you for as long as I can but I don’t think our phones will last for much longer. Stay safe Jonathan and know that you are one of the best people I know and that I care for you.”

Jonathan wiped away any stray tears and typed out a quick response to Luke’s goodbye before silencing his phone and slipping it back into his backpack. He stood up and did his best to recollect himself before picking up his backs. Jonathan was now more determined than ever to find Evan and Tyler. He put his hand on the door and pulled it open and stepped out.

Jonathan cautiously made his way down the stairwell. It sucked that he no longer had a car. It would have made this deadly trip much safer and not to mention faster. If he was lucky maybe he could stumble across an abandoned car along the way or even a bike. 

Jonathan entered the lobby of his apartment building. The smell of blood immediately filled his nose. A body was slumped against the far wall and a few others littered the floor. The scene made him want to gag. Jonathan tightened his stomach he’d seen worse carnage in the video games he’d played but nothing could have prepared him for the combination of the sight and the horrific smell. 

Jonathan held his breath and briskly walked out the front doors. Not only was the scene horrific but he didn’t know if anyone of those corpses would get up and try to eat him and he didn't want to find out. He let the doors of the lobby close behind him and he stepped out onto the street. A few street lamps illuminated part of the road ahead, but the rest was covered in shadows. 

Anything could be out there, just hiding around corners ready to strike. The coolness of the morning air around him helped his sense stay alert and hopefully it would be enough to keep himself out of the jaws of death, after all, there’s no turning back now.

Jonathan slipped out of the town under the cover of darkness and continued down a long stretch of highway. Hours passed and the sun was now directly overhead and Jonathan slowly trudged over to a tree at the side of the road. 

Jonathan let his bags fall from his shoulders and he slumped against the tree. His feet burned and throbbed in pain, and his shoulders now had a rash from the bags constantly rubbing. Jonathan pulled one of the bags closer and pulled out a water bottle and took a few swigs. He let his head fall back against the tree as he let his body recuperate after the long walk he just endured. 

He’s been relatively lucky so far, he’s only seen maybe 10 – 15 of the infected wandering the highway. And when he did see them Jonathan would just stray off the road and enter the trees and sneak past them.

Jonathan slowly stood up and resecured the bags to his back. He mentally readied himself for the hours of walking he had ahead of him and took a step forward. 

Jonathan sighed “ okay her...” smack. 

Jonathan fell to the earth his backpacks dragging him down. Jonathan began to panic and quickly crawled away from what hit him. He spun around and faced his opponent drawing out his knife. A young girl laid on the ground struggling to stand. She locked eyes with Jonathan, she gripped the tree and pulled herself to her feet. 

“Run!” She growled out desperately clearly in pain. 

She limped over before collapsing to the ground. Jonathan put away his knife and ran to the girl. 

“Hey! Hey!” Jonathan began shaking the girl, she was out of breath and barely able to keep her eyes open. The bushes behind her began the rustle, and from the forest emerged the dead.

Jonathan's eyes widened “Shit! Shit!” He grabbed the girl’s arm and wrapped around it his shoulders before taking off in a dead run! The infected continued to pour out of the forest one after another. 

“I told you to run!” The girl said in between her gasps for breath.

"what do you think I'm doing," Jonathan said as he pulled the girl along.

“Ahh!” The girl let out a scream of pain and her one leg gave out. 

“Dame those fucking cops,” she said slamming her fist into the ground. 

“They can’t even tell who’s infected and not” she gripped her poorly fixed wound, it had been treated enough to stop the bleeding but if left open too long it could get infected. 

“come on,” Jonathan said yanking the girl to her feet. More of the dead began pouring out of the forest to the left. 

“What the fuck! Why are there so many” Jonathan said completely out of breath, the girl and his bags growing heavier and heavier. 

“Shit! what are we going to do!” The hoard of the dead was getting closer with more still coming out of the forest. There must have been at least 40 of them and he all he had was a knife. 

The sound of an engine and gunshots echoed from behind. Jonathan turned his head to see what was happening, a red pickup truck tearing through the dead. 

“Oh, Shit!” Jonathan screamed in his head, he began to run faster ”please be friendly!” was all Jonathan could think. 

The truck continued to tear through the horde and there was man in the bed of the truck was firing at the hoard with a pistol. The truck broke through the crowd of infected and continued down the street at full speed. 

The girl turned her head around to see the incoming truck and began pulling on Jonathan's arm trying to get him to stop. 

“Hey! slow down!” She said looking back at the truck. The truck zoomed by and skidded to a stop a couple of feet in front of PPthem. The man in the back of the truck leaped down off of the bed and began racing towards them. 

“Autumn!” The man called as he ran up to the pair. Autumn let go of Jonathan as the man picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. 

“come on!” the man screamed at Jonathan waving his hand in the direction of the truck. They ran as fast as they could towards the truck. The man threw Autumn into the bed of the truck before hopping in himself. 

Jonathan leaped onto the tail of the trunk and the unknown man grabbed Jonathan by the strap of his backpack and helped pull him in before the dead could grab him. 

The man then slammed his hand into the back window signaling the driver to go. He pulled out his pistol and started to shoot the infected that had started to get dangerously close to the truck before they took off. 

The man sunk down to the floor of the truck and crawled over to Autumn. Jonathan tore off his bags and placed his hands behind his head desperately trying to take in enough air to cool down his burning lungs. Autumn laid in the corner opposite to Jonathan her hands desperately trying to stop the bleeding from her wound, all that running must have aggravated it. 

Jonathan pulled his backpack to him and quickly pulled out his medical kit. He crawled over to the man and start handing him the medkit. The man quickly thanked Jonathan before turning his full attention to Autumn. 

Jonathan looked back over the tailgate and watch the hoard continuing down the road trying to catch them growing smaller and smaller in the distance before all he could see is an open road with a few abandoned cars here and there. 

“The name’s Hunter,” the man said turning to Jonathan. Autumn’s leg had been wrapped the best they could with what little supplies they had. 

“Jonathan,” he said reaching his hand out. Hunter firmly shook his hand before leaning back against the side of the truck.

”Thank you for helping Autumn,” Hunter said. 

“No problem, I honestly think she might have also saved my life” Jonathan replied as he packed away the medical supplies he had left. 

“How so?” Hunter asked. 

“Well that hoard might have snuck up on me if she hadn't dragged my attention towards the forest, or I might have accidentally run into it while trying to avoid the ones on the road,” Jonathan said. They sat a bit in silence, and Jonathan couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward.

“if you don't mind me asking how did this happen,” Jonathan asked pointing at Autumn who was now sleeping in the corner of the truck bed. 

“The government had quarantined our city when the outbreak first started” Hunter started. 

“We lived in the big city my sister and I,” he said motioning toward Autumn, the driver is Isaac he's just a friend, anyway... we knew that the outbreak wasn't just contained in our city, it was all over the news and the internet.” Hunter signed 

“We also knew we had to get out of there, we knew how chaotic the city was becoming and how dangerous it would be to stay, what we didn't know was how determined they were to not let anyone leave.”

”We packed everything we thought we needed and left in my car, and just as we thought the city was chaotic, people were freaking out, and getting eaten left and right. Cars swerving into light poles. It was so surreal” Hunter pop the clip out of his pistol and started to clean his gun. 

“When we got to the city limits we didn’t see anyone, so we assumed they had got overrun. The police had put spike strips out in the road to try and prevent people from leaving, so I and Autumn got out to move the strips, the minute we step out they opened fire on us from the forest. Autumn was completely open and got shot in the leg, I was able to use the car for cover. Autumn managed to puller herself into the car and I hopped into the back Isaac stepped on it and the spikes end up popping all of our tires, we lasted for a good 3 miles before the tires went completely flat. We patched Autumn up the best we could and left her in the car as I and Isaac went out to find a new set of wheels” Hunter finally finished cleaning his gun and started to reassemble it. 

“and as you can see we found this bad boy” Hunter patted the side of the truck lightly 

“While I wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth,” Hunter said “but I was curious about why the police didn't pursue us,” he said. “But I quickly found out why, it was all of the gunfire, while they were fighting us and all the other poor people trying to escape, it was creating a lot of noise, and all that noise was attracting the dead out of the city and it caused the police to actually be overrun.” Hunter started to reload his gun. 

“We had gotten the truck working and drove it back to pick up Autumn when we ran into the back end of the hoard walking into the forest” Hunter said “I was so scared and we fought desperately back to the car fearing for my sister’s life, but when we got there she wasn’t there. the only thing we could think of was that that the hoard might have chased her into the forest. So we dove down to the next highway hoping to get there before the hoard did.” Hunter said putting away his gun.

“And that’s when we found you, now we plan to head down Florida, we've got family down there,” Hunter said

“So what about you, where are you going” 

“ right now I am just heading up to the next town but my overall goal is to get to Indiana,” Jonathan said he dug through his bag and pulled out his book of maps. 

“Indiana! That’s ludicrous especially if you don't have any wheels” Hunter said as he scooted closer to Jonathan. 

“Yes, but there are people who need me there,” Jonathan said as he flipped open his book. 

“Woah! That’s a neat book here let me see it.” Hunter reached out a snatched the book for Jonathan. He flipped over to a map the showed a picture of Florida. He pulled out a pen and pulled off the cap with his teeth before marking the map. 

“Here,” Hunter said, “if you're ever in our area this is where we'll be.”

Jonathan looked at the city Hunter circled. 

“Thanks, I’ll keep this in mind” Jonathan flipped the book closed and rested his head against the side of the truck. The longer they drove the lower the sun got on the horizon, soon there came a fork in the road and the truck came to a stop. 

“Well...” Hunter said lowering the tailgate “this is where we part ways” Jonathan gathered his stuff and slid off the truck and into the street. Autumn pulled at her brother ”can't we take him all the way there?” She asked 

“I wish we could but it's an extra 15 miles of gas, we might not even have enough to get all the way to Florida” Hunter pulled the tailgate back up and turned to Jonathan. 

“The next town should be just up this road, you shouldn’t see too many zombies but just remember about the hoard, it could turn up your way, don't let them catch you off guard” Hunter stuck out his hand and Jonathan shook it. 

“Good luck out there,” Hunter said after shaking Jonathan's hand. “Same too you” Jonathan took a step back and Hunter slammed his hand into the back of the truck signaling to Isaac that it was time to go. The truck revved to life and began to drive away. Jonathan stood there waving for about a minute before turning down the street and continuing his long walk to the next town. 

After about another full hour of walking, Jonathan could finally see the town but he still had a good distance to go but at least he could see his end goal.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Hello! Sooo it’s been awhile, sorry about that. I’ve just been swamped with school and applying for collage but now that’s all over with and I can finally get back to writing my stories. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors I may have missed.

Jonathan entered a small suburban area just as the sun started to set. He dragged his feet down the long street absolutely exhausted. Jonathan glanced around the houses, most of them were small one-story nothing too special but they were big enough to accompany a small family. Only one house stood out to Jonathan because parked in its driveway was a bright red Ferrari. 

“Holy shit” Jonathan gawked at the car. He walked up the driveway eyeing the car. 

“If no one's here I am soo, taking this car!” he walked up the pouch of the house and approached the door. 

“Hello...” Jonathan called out as he knocked on the door. He cupped his hands around his face and tried looking into the house. The house was dark but he could make some of the furniture in the room. There was a dark color couch and a with a matching ottoman all facing away from the window and at a tv. 

Jonathan pulled away from the window and tried the door. The doorknob twisted and jiggled but the lock wouldn’t allow the door to open. Jonathan sighed and walked back down off the porch and began looking for another way in. Jonathan rounded to the back of the house and began checking the windows. He pushed up against the first window he saw and was slightly relieved when the window actually opened... a bit. 

The widow was just high enough that Jonathan couldn't reach it enough to push fully open enough to get himself and his bags through. Jonathan wasn't short but he wasn't tall either. He was about 5’8 give or take and he had a pretty good reach. But the window must have been at least 2 and a half feet higher than him. 

Jonathan quickly grabbed a black trash can that was kept on the side of the house and used it as a stool that allowed him to open the window just enough to let him slide into the house. Jonathan pulled himself in and landed with a thud on to the cool tiles of a bathroom. The weight of his bags pulling and smashing him to the floor. 

Jonathan grimaced as the trash can tipped over and fell make a loud crashing sound. He stood up and straightened his bags before sticking his head out into the hallway of the house. He cautiously walked down the hallway drawing out one of his knives from his pocket. Jonathan entered the room he saw threw the window and carefully examined it for anything that could kill him, after not seeing anyone he quickly walked to the window and pulled the curtains shut. He then carefully walked down to each and every room making sure that no one was home and also closing all of the windows and curtains so no one could see in. 

Jonathan entered one of the house’s two bedrooms and placed his backpacks into the corner of the room before throwing himself onto the bed. Jonathan groaned as he kicked his shoes off of his aching feet. He had left the curtains open in this room to let in some light before the sun went down. So he just laid there staring at the golden beams of light dancing across the ceiling. 

His stomach growled in hunger demanding for food, Jonathan slowly moved his stiff body and reached down for the bag sitting next to the bed. He unzipped the first bag and pulled out 2 snickers bars, a bottle of water and placed them on to the bed. He began rummaging through the bag looking for his map. He pulled out a big combat knife that was tucked away in a protective sleeve. 

Jonathan stared at it for a second. ”What! When did I have this... and why haven't I been using this instead of this stupid flimsy kitchen knife” Jonathan criticized himself not even knowing his own supplies. He continued to look for his maps pulling things out of the bag left and right. His hand grabbed something cold and with a rough grip. Jonathan froze and his eyes widened in shock and surprise, as he slowly lifted his hand out of the bag, and saw that he was gripping a pistol.

“ Now I know I didn't have this” Jonathan said his eye darted to the corner of the room and there where his two bags exactly where he left them. Jonathan could feel his heartbeat start quickening. 

“ Shit! Someone else’s is here I’ve got to get out of here” was all his mind thought about. Jonathan shifted his feet, gun still in hand about to spring up, grab his bags and get the hell out of there. But his body refused to move as it heard the click and the coldness of a metal barrel being pressed up against his head. 

“Don’t move” the voice demanded “drop the gun” Jonathan hesitated “Now!” The man yelled pressing the gun harder against Jonathan's Head. Jonathan immediately let go of the gun and It fell to the floor with a clank.

“Stand up and turn around slowly, keep your hands above your head” Jonathan did as he was told and slowly rose to his feet making sure the man saw his hands at all times. Jonathan faced the gunman, he was on the shorter side kind of chubby but not fat and had blonde curly hair that covered his ears. He looked not much older than 17 and seemed to be just as scared as Jonathan was. 

“Look this is all just a big miss under...”

“Shut up!” the man said cutting Jonathan off “ you were trying to steal my friends’ stuff. And when they get back we’ll figure out what to do to you." 

Jonathan's heart sank he had a small chance of getting out with his life if he just had to deal with this kid but if the others showed up, he would have no chance of getting out on his own. He would just have to hope that they were reasonable people and would hear him out. But in his experience with video games and movies that is almost never the case. 

He heard a door open and close and the shuffling of feet entering the house. 

“Noah!” a voice called out “we're back!” 

Jonathan could feel himself start to panic, he didn't think his journey would end so soon. 

“ Guys come quick!” Noah called out to the newcomers. Jonathan could hear at least one of them start to race down the hallway toward the room where Noah was holding him at gunpoint. With each footstep, Jonathan's heart beat faster and faster his brain scrambled for a way out of this situation. 

The best plan he could come up with was to wack the gun out of Noah's hand and make a break for the window leaving all his supplies behind. Jonathan shifted his stance ready to make his move when one of the newcomers rounded the corner and entered the room with their gun already drawn sending Jonathan's plans flying right out the window like he should have been. 

”Noah! what’s wrong what’s happening?” the stranger said as he entered the room his eyes landed on Jonathan and stopped. Jonathan's mind was going into mental shut down mode and it soon became a broken record player just repeating “I’m going to die” over and over. His eyes were glued to the stranger's gun to afraid to look anywhere else. 

So this was how he was going to die he didn’t even get close to finding Evan and Tyler. He didn’t think he would get far but this... it was just his luck to walk into a house that someone was already in, it was even more unlucky to walk into someone's house who was well armed and had friends to back them up. Jonathan slowly tore his eyes away from the gun and stared up at the man holding it. 

His eyes widen as he stared up at the stranger. He almost felt like laughing or he wanted to cry he couldn't tell. There was no way, it was practically impossible but there he was. The only thing that still scared Jonathan was that Evan never actually seen his face before so he would have no way of knowing it’s him.

“Evan,” Jonathan said tears of relief threatening to fall from his eyes. Evan seemed startled when Jonathan said his name but the gears slowly started to turn Evan lower his gun once he realized who it was. He may have never met Jonathan face to face before but he would recognize that voice anywhere. 

“No fucking way...” Evan muttered, “Jonathan is that you?”

Jonathan nodded his head still scared half to death. Evan holstered his gun and ran forward pulling Jonathan into a hug. Jonathan felt his legs practically give out in Evan’s arms. 

“Evan! Oh, I am so glad it’s you! I was so scared I thought I was going to die! I am sorry I rummage through your bag! I thought I was mine!” 

Jonathan rambled on still in shock and trying to recuperate what just happened and trying not to think about what could have happened. Evan tried to comfort him and slowly helped Jonathan to sit down on the bed. He was completely shaken from have two guns pointed directly at his head. 

“Calm down Jonathan, it’s all right,” Evan said trying to soothe his friend. “Noah could you go get...” Evan stopped and was a little surprised to see that Noah was already gone. 

Evan just shrugged it off and turned his attention back to Jonathan. Evan studied his friend, it was his first time ever seeing his face. Though he wished it would have been under better circumstances. 

The more he looked at Jonathan the more he wondered why he never showed his face in any of the videos he made. He had a nicely shaped face with short but messy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He looked just how Evan thought he would, just a little shorter, from what he could tell he was about a good 2 inches he’s taller than Jonathan. 

Jonathan slowly regained control of his breathing and his heart soon settled back in its rightfully place in his chest and not in his throat. 

“I don't understand, what are you doing here... I thought you were up in Indiana with Tyler,” Jonathan asked Evan. 

“Well, you see aft...” Evan began. 

“Where the hell is he!” Tyler came flying into the room with a shotgun in hand and a panicked Noah in tow. 

“Where is the Fucker that was stealing our stuff” he screamed. 

Jonathan dove behind the bed and covered his head, there was no way he was going to stand in front of a fuming Tyler with a shotgun especially since he wouldn’t recognize him right away. Evan flew to his feet and put himself in between Tyler and Jonathan 

“Wait! Tyler, calm down." Evan said trying to defuse the situation. 

"Don't tell me to calm down, People can't just come in here and steal our stuff and get away with it!" Tyler yelled trying to push passed Evan 

"It's Jonathan” Evan exclaimed shoving the barrel of the shotgun away towards the wall. 

“What?” Tyler questioned lower the shotgun. Jonathan slowly raised his hands above the bed before deciding to fully reveal himself. 

“It's me! It’s me!” Jonathan repeated as he stood up. 

“You know this guy” Noah asked Tyler who still had a shocked look on his face. 

“ Ya! He’s the whole fucking reason we came down here!” Tyler responded in his more normal irritated tone. 

“ You came down here looking for me? I was heading up to see if I could find you guys!” Jonathan stated. 

“Of course we came down here looking for you, you left in the middle of the call and never came back and with all that's been happening we thought you were in trouble or dead. Besides what elsewhere we supposed to do!” Tyler said in anger. 

“ uhh... go find a safe place to wait this thing out!” Jonathan practically screamed back at Tyler he was beyond pissed that his friends risked everything to come down to get his especially since they didn't even know if he was alive or not plus he was still ramped up on adrenaline. 

“We thought you were in trouble after you never returned to the call and if there was even a chance you where alive and we could find you we would take it” Evan interjected. 

”guys...” Noah said timidly 

“I thought you guys were in trouble after I got that terrifying voicemail, didn't you guys get my message saying I was fine,” Jonathan said as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening. 

”I lost my phone in the fight...” Evan replied trying to keep a cool head, but he too was growing kind of irritating from the high tension in the room. Plus he was kind of pissed off that Jonathan was yelling at them for coming all this way to see if he was all right, especially right after he said that he was come up to see if he could find them! He had no right to be screaming at them for not finding a safe place. 

“Guys!” Noah yelled. All eyes snapped in Noah’s direction 

“What” Tyler hissed. 

“Keep it down you'll start to attract the dead if you keep yelling like that!” Noah said sternly but quietly. 

Tyler grumbled to himself and Evan rubbed the back of his head in shame. Jonathan spun around and stared out the window. The sun had fallen beyond the horizon for a while now and darkness now cloaked the outside. 

Jonathan's eyes darted back and forth looking for any signs of movement. Nothing caught his eyes but he knew they were out there... somewhere. He drew the curtains closed and turned to the group. 

He collected himself the best he could before speaking “We'll talk about this later, what’s the plan for tonight.”

Evan took a quick glance at the now curtained window and let out a deep sigh. “It’s already dark” he said looking away from the window. “I’d suggest we get ready for bed and make a plan after we make sure this place is locked down.” Tyler nodded along in agreement. “Noah you get the sleeping bags set up, Evan and I will check the front and back yard for any of the infected.” Tyler said and immediately turned to leave with Evan close behind.

“Wait!” Jonathan called putting in confusion. “what am I supposed to do.” Evan stopped and looked back at Jonathan with a comforting smile “you just relax and get ready for bed, you need it” he said with flashes of concern in his eyes before he turned and walked out of the room.

Jonathan stood there for a moment still unsure on what to do. He shook his head what were the odds of them running into each other like they had. That he would accidentally wander into the same house that Evan and tyler has stopped at too.

Jonathan turned around and made his way over to his bags in the corner of the room. He started to shuffle through them but found himself constantly distracted by the eeling of being stared at. Jonathan glanced over his shoulder at Noah who quickly looked away. He was starting to get very uncomfortable with the tensions of the room and his stomach howled at him for food.

He reached into his bag and pulled out an unopened water bottle. Jonathan cracked the seal and the noise nearly made Noah jump out of his skin. Jonathan shook his head and made a mental note to move carefully around him so that he didn’t give the poor kid a heartattack. Jonathan snacked on a granola bar as he waited for Evan and Tyler to get back. Noah unrolled his and Tyler’s sleepin bags and laid them out across the bed. He then picked up Evan’s a quickly left the room leaving Jonathan alone. He watched the kid leave and could help but wonder who the hell he was. Was he a friend of Evan or Tyler that he didn’t know about? Was he part of one of their families? Jonathan found himself thinking while he sat in silents and slowly munched on the granola bar. 

Now what? he thought. He’d planned on having to search forever to find Evan and Tyler, but now that he’s found him what next? Jonathan balled up the wrapper in his hand and tossed the water bottle back into his bag.

He stood up and made his way over to the small bathroom. He dropped the wrapper into the waste bin and shut the door behind him. Jonathan shuffled his way over to the sink and twisted the faucet on. water flowed from the sink and Jonathan waited for a second for the water to get warm. 

He bent over the sink and cupped his hands to catch the water. Jonathan splashed the water into his face and rubbed away all the sweat and grime that had build up over the past hectic hours. 

Hell, there was a whole leaf tangled in his messy brown hair. Jonathan pulled the leaf out of his hair and glanced over at the shower. he stared longingly at it for a bit before finally giving in. he pulled open the curtains and turned on the water. he stripped down and stepped into the shower. 

Jonathan flinched away from the scalding water and had to make a few adjustments before he felt comfortable. Jonathan felt the tension in his muscles practically melt away as the hot water hit his back. 

Steam filled his nose as he began scrubbing himself down washing away all the sweat and filth. He stood there for a few more moments just basking in the warmth before much to his dismay he reached out and twist the water off. He stepped out and grabbed the towel hanging on the back of the bathroom door. 

It was a bit awkward having to use some stranger’s towel to dry himself off but it needed to be done. Plus Jonathan had a feeling he was going to have to get used to being in unknown houses and using unknown people’s things. He finished drying himself off when he realized that he had forgotten to bring in a change of clothes. 

Jonathan let out a sigh and wrapped the towel around his waist before slightly pulling the door open. Jonathan crossed his fingers hoping that no one was in the room as he peered out the door. There laying across the bed with his arms spread out forming a t shape was Evan just staring up at the ceiling. 

Jonathan froze but Evan made no sign showing that he heard him opening the door. Jonathan could feel his cheeks start to heat up at the thought of having to walk out half-naked in front of Evan and he couldn’t figure out why. It was a completely normal thing for someone to walk out with a towel wrapped around themselves to get an article of cloth they may have forgotten. So why did he find it so embarrassing right now? 

Jonathan took a quick breath and started to push the door open a little bit more so he could try and sneak out to grab his clothes. Which was practically impossible the sound of him grabbing the bag and dragging it back into the bathroom would most certainly alert Evan, not that Jonathan’s poor plan even mattered, because the door let out a loud squeak as he pushed it open. Evan sat up and looked over at the bathroom smiling. 

“Oh good, you’re done,” he said. Jonathan felt his heart lurched and he instinctively pulled the door closer to himself so that Evan couldn’t see him. “Umm... actually I need that bag” Jonathan said pointing to the two bags resting against the wall. “Oh,” Evan said nonchalantly standing up from the bed and walking over to the bags. 

“This one?” He asked picking up one of the bags. “Yeah” Jonathan replied quickly not even looking at which bag he actually grabbed. Evan brought it over to Jonathan who snatched it from him with a quick thank you and shut the door. 

Evan stood there a bit shocked by Jonathan's shyness before quietly chuckling to himself before he returned to the bed. Lucky for Jonathan Evan did give him the right bag so things did have to get more awkward. 

Jonathan soon reemerged from the bathroom wearing a new pair of jeans and a black jacket with a little hockey mask printed on the side. Evan let out a small snort as tried to hold in his laugh. “Really you’re wearing your own merch,” Evan said smiling at Jonathan who looked a bit flustered and embarrassed. 

“What! It’s a good jacket!” He exclaimed as he watched Evan get up and move past him towards the bathroom himself. “If you say so,” he said in a teasing tone before he shut the bathroom door. Jonathan shook his head his cheek still flushed with embarrassment and walked out of the bedroom. 

He entered the living room which was mostly dark except for a small camping lantern that sat in the center of the floor. Tyler sat on the couch and was peering through the drawn curtains behind him. Noah sat on what seemed to be a recliner and looked like he would jump out of his skin if he heard a pin drop. 

Tyler looked away from the curtains and smiled at Jonathan. “So Mr. hypocrite,” he said standing up from the couch. “What your noble and stupid plan now,” he said mockingly but was still smiling. 

“Shut up,” Jonathan said lightly pushing him away. Tyler let out a laugh and pulled Jonathan in for a hug surprising him. “I’m glad you’re alright,” Tyler said breaking the quick hug. “Sorry about pointing a shotgun at you.”

“Don’t worry about it” Jonathan replied “you didn’t know it was me” Tyler smiled and allowed himself to fall back onto the couch with a groan. “Today has been one hell of a day,” he said looking up a Jonathan. “And we were driving” he added. “I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for you” Tyler has distant look in his eyes as he seemed to recall the horrible event of today. Noah who had been quiet as a mouse suddenly got up from the chair and walked out of the room. 

Jonathan eyes him as he left and turned back to Tyler who was also watching him leave. “So who’s that,” Jonathan asked and Tyler let out a sigh. “He’s just some kid we found on our way here.” Tyler said as he rubbed at his face. “Evan was the one who found him, he was curled up in a ball at a gas station we stopped at” “the kid was a mess,” he said looking off in the direction Noah went. 

“He wouldn’t stop shaking or tell us where his family was, and Evan said we couldn’t just leave there so we ended up taking him with us.” Footsteps echoed throughout the house and Jonathan turned to see Evan walk into the room wearing a red T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He rubbed at his still wet hair with a towel and yawned. 

“So what’s the plan,” he said standing next to Jonathan. “Well you wanted to see if we could find your parents,” Tyler said looking at Evan. Evan nodded “do you know how long it might take us to drive down to Florida” Jonathan shot a look towards Evan “Florida? When did your parents move from Canada?” Evan smiled “they didn’t, they just have a home down there so they can avoid the harsh winters, they were getting too old to be dealing with it.”

“Oh” Jonathan said nodding. Tyler pulled out his phone and opened up maps. He typed in the address Evan gave him and tapped on directions. Tyler flipped the phone are for Evan and Jonathan to see. “It’ll take us 9 days to get there,” he said not even really thinking about it. 

“9 days!” Jonathan said in disbelief “that can’t be right it only took you guys a few hours to get here from Indiana and Florida is not that much farther.” Tyler gave Jonathan a quick glare “that’s what the phone said how could it be wrong” 

“he’s right” Evan said leaning down to take a closer look at the screen. He tapped something and turned the phone back around for Tyler to see. “You had on walking, not driving.” He said “it’s actually only a 9-hour drive” 

“how did you not notice that.” Jonathan said lightly punching Tyler in the shoulder. “Shut up” Tyler mumbled and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “So as of now, that’s the plan right?” Jonathan said and Evan and Tyler nodded. “What about after that,” he asked crossing his arms. 

They were all silent for a moment before Evan spoke up. “ I guess we find somewhere safe,” he said and Tyler let out a small laugh “thanks captain obvious” Evan rolled his eyes and continued, “if we can find somewhere safe maybe we can wait this thing out or if this can’t be waited out the we could establish a base that we could use to find the rest of our families and friends.” 

Tyler smirked “fine by me,” he said “what about you Jonathan” Jonathan shook his head “I have no problem with it” 

“alllright!” Evan said smiling “then it’s settled, that’s what we’ll do” Tyler let out a huff of agreement and leaned back “I don’t know about you guy but I’m ready to turn in,” he said.

“Noah did you finish setting up the sleeping bags” Tyler called and a nervous Noah popped around the corner nodding his head. “Yes I put yours and in this bedroom here, and I put yours,” he said looking at Evan “in the back bedroom” he finished. 

“Noah...” Evan started and Jonathan noted something strange about his tone. Noah seemed to stiffen with realization and started to panic “oh! I’m so sorry I..I.. I didn’t even think about that.” he stuttered. “I’ll... I’ll stay there you can sleep in the other room” 

“no it’s fine!” Evan said quickly “I’ll just sleep out here,” he said with a smile reassuring smile on his face. “Are you sure?” Noah asked and Evan nodded. “Someone needs to keep watch,” he said shrugging. “Okay, then” Noah said “I’ll bring out your sleeping bag” he said before quickly walkig out of the room.

“Wait what’s wrong with that room,” Jonathan asked looking between Evan and Tyler. Evan paled and quickly looked away to avoid Jonathan’s gaze while Tyler shot him a look saying shut the fuck up. Jonathan did say anything more he just gave Evan a worried glance before turning to leave. 

He walked out of the room and back into the bedroom. He crouched down by his bags and fished out his book of maps. He flipped the book open to Florida and marked down the location of Evan’s parent’s winter home. It actually wasn’t that much farther then the mark Hunter had made on the map, maybe they’d end up running into each other at some point. 

Jonathan closed the book and stuffed it into his bag zipping it closed. He then pulled out the pillows and blankets he had stuffed in the other bag along with his teddy. He grimaced slightly at the fact he didn’t have an actual sleeping bag like the others and made a mental note to be on the lookout for one. He bundled the blankets together and held them in his arms as he left the room. 

He started making his way down the hallway and towards the other bedroom but for some reason, he stopped when he rounded the corner and saw the other bedroom door closed. His mind thought back to the sick look Evan had when Noah mentioned the room. Something happened that made Evan not even want to go near that room and he didn’t think he wanted to know what that was. 

Jonathan took a deep breath and turned around still holding the bundle of blankets in his hands. He walked out into the living room and saw Tyler talking to Evan as he laid out his sleeping bag across the couch. Jonathan said nothing as he walked past them and dropped his blankets on the reclining chair. 

“What are you doing?” Evan asked slightly frowning. “Well someone needs to be here to take the next shift,” Jonathan said with a slightly mischievous smile. “You don’t have t...” Evan started to say but got cut off when Tyler slapped him on the back. 

“Good idea,” he said “we’ll all take 3-hour shift” and Tyler quickly left to grab his sleeping bag. He came bag and laid it out on the floor just as Noah teen tweed the room and looked at them in confusion. “What are you doing he asked. Just staying near Evan so that he doesn’t have to go far when it’s time to switch off.” Tyler said. You can stay in the bedroom if you would like, the three of us should be able to cover tonight” 

“st..stay in there by my self. No way!” And he ran off to gather his own sleeping bag. A few moments later all four of them were piled in the small living room. And with a little while longer both Tyler and Noah were asleep, on the floor. 

The room was dark again because Tyler had turned off the lantern before he fell asleep and Jonathan Katie’s silently on the recliner. 

He watched the room carefully and listened for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t know why his nerves were acting up so suddenly. Perhaps it was being in an unknown house in an unknown area. maybe it was his mind finally catching up with the gravity of the situation, or perhaps it was just how dark the room was.

The only light illuminating the room was a sliver of moonlight that came from the curtains that Evan was peering out of. Jonathan could see Evan scanning the outside world with watchful and alert eyes. He could tell when Evan thought he saw something because he would let the curtains close a bit more and his grip on his pistol would tighten. 

Jonathan continued to observe Evan in the pale moonlight and felt himself growing calmer. Soon his eyes started to become heavier until they finally shut.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Hello sooo… It’s been a bit. But I finally got this chapter done! Today is officially my last day of high school for forever so Ya! This last week was rough but I got through it with okay grades. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry for and errors I missed. And hopefully I should be able to get these out faster now that I don’t have to worry about school.

Chapter 4

Jonathan woke to the rustling and unzipping of a sleeping bag. He blinked his eyes trying to adjust them to the early morning light when he noticed Evan in vain attempted to slide quietly out of his sleeping bag. He was barely able to make out the shape of his figure in the pitch darkness in the room. 

Jonathan silently observed Evan rummaged through his bag before supposedly finding what he needed and making his way down to the back glass sliding door and quietly sneaking out. Jonathan debated about leaving the warmth of his bundle of blankets to follow his friend, but he decided against it figuring that if it was a big deal Evan would have told them before he rolled over and went back to sleep.

A cold breeze wafted into the room and slapped Jonathan back awake. He turned over and looked out the back door. The sun had just started to rise, and the light trickled in allowing Jonathan to see that Evan left the glass doors open and allowing a small draft to slipped into the house. Jonathan sighed in annoyance before sliding himself out of his blankets.

The hardwood floor was cold to his feet as he carefully stepped over Tyler and creeped down and out the glass door into the back yard. He stepped out onto a small wooden deck that overlooked the yard. 

It wasn’t a large yard, but he wouldn't call it small either. It had wooden fences surrounding its borders to separate it from the neighbors' yards and the forest just beyond. There was a massive tree whose trunk took up almost a quarter of the yard sat in the upper right corner and its branches stretched far above and past the roof of the house. 

To the right of the tree was a couple planter boxes filled with vibrant green plants and crouched down beside them was Evan picking at the plants. 

“I thought you were a night owl, not an early bird” Jonathan joked, smiling as he stepped down off of the porch and onto the wet grass. 

He grimaced as his foot sunk into wet dirt regretting that he didn’t put his shoes on before heading outside. Evan turned to see Jonathan walking towards him, and chuckled.

“Normally I am but as of late it’s been hard to sleep.” Evan picked a tomato off of the vine and tossed it to Jonathan. 

He caught it and examined the bright red fruit in his hand. “That’s understandable,” Jonathan said rolling the tomato in his hand. “I mean with everything that’s going on right now and all it’s a miracle that any of us managed to sleep.”

Evan continued to pick a few more vegetables from the tiny garden. And Jonathan observed him take a very large yawn before resuming picking vegetables. “So why didn’t you wake any of us up last night,” Jonathan said crossing his arms. Evan didn’t respond right away and rubbed at one of his eyes. “Well... I knew that if I had tried to fall asleep, I wouldn’t have been able to.” He said shrugging his shoulders “so why wake someone else up when I’d still be awake anyways” 

Jonathan shook his head “just try and get some sleep when we get on the road” Evan smiled slightly and nodded his head in acknowledgment.

The wind resumed blowing and Jonathan took a bite out of the tomato, it’s juicy insides squirting out into his mouth. But the taste was ruined as a putrid smell that filled the air. 

“Uhgg! that smell,” Jonathan said fanning his hand around hoping to push the odor away. 

Evan grimaced and pinched his nose with his free hand but said nothing. He stood up and handed more tomatoes to Jonathan and motioned for him to follow him back inside. They both stepped inside and pulled the sliding door shut, they placed the assortment of vegetables on the kitchen table. Jonathan took another bite of his tomato and look up at Evan but he was gone already. 

He stood there a bit confused but shrugged it off and walked back over to where Tyler and Noah were sleeping. Jonathan now understood another reason why Evan might have had a hard time sleeping… 

Tyler sounded like a train! His loud snores almost seem to amplify and echo in the room they were in. Jonathan was surprised he managed to get any sleep himself, He was normally a pretty light sleeper. Then again he normally didn’t get as much exercise as he was getting now. 

Jonathan folded up his blanks and carried them into the bedroom before shoving them along with his blankets and teddy bear back into his bags. Double-checking to make sure the bags were actually his this time. 

He walked back out into the living room and saw Evan quickly walk by carrying a shovel and head back out and into the backyard. Jonathan was going to follow him again when Noah shot up with an angry scream. 

“I can’t take it anymore! I am going to suffocate him!” He lunged at Tyler and began shaking him violently back and forth. Tyler awoke in a panic. 

“Who died!” He yelled. 

“You in a minute if you don’t stop snoring.” His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. 

“What the hell are you talking about I don’t snore.” 

Noah pulled at his own ears “You snore so fucking loud I am surprised anyone got some sleep, you tell him.” Noah said looking at Jonathan expectantly.  
Jonathan grinned and shrug his shoulders “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tyler’s snorers are like a choir from heaven.” 

Noah was fuming “More like a choir from hell!” 

Jonathan saw a flash of anger in Tyler's eyes and he knew he was about to witness the verbal death of a man. Tyler opened his mouth and you could see the storm of harsh, hurtful, and downright funny insults bubbling up ready to be shot out at poor Noah, but the storm doors of Tyler's mouth were forced closed by Evan running back into the room. 

“Everyone Shut up now!” They all looked at him in confusion as he slid the glass door shut and locked it. 

Fear was plastered all over his face, and Jonathan could hear a muffled tapping noise coming from outside. Evan raised a finger to his mouth and motioned for them to come closer to the doorway. 

Jonathan made it there first and everyone crowded around him He scanned the backyard carefully looking for any that could have set Evan off, but he couldn’t see anything. 

“What is it” Tyler whispered or well he thought he whispered, It was a very loud whisper. 

Evan shushed him “Listen,” he said cupping his hands behind his ears and pressed it against the glass of the door. 

There was a series of taps and bangs than a small creak, but they still couldn’t see anything. Jonathan quietly unlocked the door, and slid it open, Evan looked like he wanted to protest but let Jonathan step outside anyway. 

The bangs and creaks became louder when he stepped outside and he could now see what Evan was afraid of. The back wooded fence that separated them from the forest swayed back and forth like something was pushing on it from behind, groans and vicious growls could be heard coming from the other side. 

Everyone just looked at each other unsure of what to do and scared that the fence could fall any minutes. They all turned to look at Evan who was still standing in the doorway and he beckoned them back inside. Once everyone was back inside he slid the door shut again and locked it. 

“No one is allowed out there until they go away. And until then keep your voices down!” Evan sternly whispered looking at Tyler the entire time. 

Tyler shrugged his shoulders trying to play it cool but Jonathan could see that he was terrified. 

“I’ll do my best.” 

A couple of hours went by and everyone was keeping themselves occupied with something. Tyler was cleaning his gun while also checking the ammunition in everyone else's pistols, Noah was sitting in the kitchen and was staring out the back doors watching the back fences like he was afraid if he took his eyes off of it for one second it was fall over and unleash the dead into the backyard. 

Evan was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a book and would occasionally glance over at the fence to see if it was still moving or not, and Jonathan was sitting across from Tyler flipping through his map book. 

He wrote out a key on the back cover of the book labeling the route to Tyler’s house and the location Hunter had given him. Jonathan then began to casually flip through it and observing his location and the area around him. 

Evan closed his book and set it down with a sigh. He got up and walked over to the door and pulled it open. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched him. The fence no longer swayed back and forth and there were no sounds of tapping against the wooden panels. Jonathan watched as Evan’s body relaxed a bit. 

”Just because they are gone doesn’t mean we can go make loud noises again. We don’t know how far they went and how good their hearing is, so keep it quiet.” Evan said before stepping outside and pulling the doors closed behind him. 

Jonathan continued to watch Evan as he picked up a shovel and resumed digging a shallow hole in the ground. 

“What is he doing?” Jonathan asked. Tyler looked up from the weapons and peered out the door. 

“Oh, that…” Tyler looked back at Jonathan and he could see hints of concern flooding on to Tyler's face. He let out a small sigh 

“When we first arrived here in this town, we scouted a couple of other places before coming here. Things went fine we collected a bunch of food and other supplies. We had a few run-ins with the dead me and Evan took care of them pretty easily. We meet Noah but we’ve already told you about that. Anyways then we came here, we knocked on the door to see if anyone was home and no one ever came, so we let ourselves in and well…” 

Evan, Tyler, and Noah stood on the porch of the house, and Evan knocked on the front door calling if anyone was home. Tyler watched their backs and Noah was looking through one of the windows trying to get a good look inside. 

Evan shook his head “no one’s home here either.”

“well hurry up and get that door open we can’t stay out here all night,” Tyler said with his usually angry tone make Noah jump in his skin and rush over to the door. He pulled out a screwdriver and a bobby pin and began picking at the lock. 

“I am still surprised that someone like you knows how to pick a lock,” Evan said. “No offense” He added. 

“None taken, I learned how to pick a lock to impress a girl I liked back in high school,” Noah said nervously. 

“Oh really, did it work,” Evan asked still trying to be a little bit friendly towards the kid. 

“No…” He said quietly. 

“Oh…” Evan cringed a bit inside and slowly backed away from the conversation and towards Tyler who was carefully watching their surroundings. 

They both looked out into the street, “How far away is Jonathan’s place” Evan asked as they waited for Noah to finish. 

“We’ll definitely get there by tomorrow,” Tyler said. He swung his shotgun over his shoulder and pulled out his phone, He opened maps and showed Evan the screen. 

“We’re about a 2-hour drive away or about a 16-hour walk.” Evan nodded his head and glanced at Tyler’s beautiful red Ferrari in the driveway that they drove here in. 

“Did he ever respond to your texts?” Tyler asked as he pocked his phone. Evan shrugged and pulled off his backpack and stuck his hand into the side pocket and his fingers popped through the other side, he wiggled them a bit for emphasis.

“You lost your phone!” Tyler said in shock. “Dumbass! How could you be so careless!” 

“I didn’t know there was a hole in the pocket,” Evan said in defiance throwing his backpack back over his shoulders. 

“Maybe you should try and call…” 

“Got it!” Evan was cut off by Noah’s excitement and the clicking of the door’s lock opening. The door slowly swung open and Evan shot a look towards Tyler, He gave Evan a small nodded and brought his shotgun back up. 

Evan unholstered his pistol and entered the house first. His eyes darted around the room and his ears strained to hear any sounds. They first searched the bathroom, then they moved into the kitchen, they carefully checked all the corners and scooped out at least half of the small house. 

Until a small thud drew everyone’s attention to the hallway left of the kitchen. They all looked at each other out of nervousness waiting for one of them to make a move. Evan tightened the grip on his pistol and once again took the lead down the hallway with Tyler very close behind. 

Noah remained outside of the hallway too afraid to follow them down the hallway. The corridor had one door on the left wall and a window at the end before it turned and branched off a bit to the right where there was without a doubt another room. 

Evan approached the first door. He stood with his back flat against the wall and placed his hand on the doorknob. Tyler readied his gun and placed his finger on the trigger and nodded to Evan to open the door. Evan pulled the door open slowly for Tyler who quickly determined the room was empty. 

They slowly continued down the hallway and reached the window. A small moan and a whimper made Evan and Tyler practically jump out of their skins. They both hugged the wall and Evan carefully stuck his head around the corner before quickly pulling it back. 

“There’s someone there” Evan mouthed towards Tyler. 

“Alive or Dead” he mouthed back. 

“Alive I think, I can’t tell” Evan whispered. 

“Be careful Evan,” Tyler responded and he gave him a small nodded before stepping out and around the corner. 

Evan kept his gun hidden behind his person and slowly walked down the rest of the hallway. There was a young woman there curled up against a door and the end of the hallway. She held her knees to her chest and was quietly sobbing. 

“Hello, miss?” Evan called out softly cautiously stepping closer to the girl. 

The girl began muttering to herself. Evan began to become even more nervous, He turned to Tyler and whispered to him “Go around the back of the house and see if you can see into that room.” Tyler gave him a confused look. 

“Why?” he asked. 

“Because I want to make sure I am not walking into a fucking trap.” Tyler nodded his head and noiselessly walked back down the hallway and towards the back yard. 

Evan turned back to the woman sitting on the floor in front of him and stepped a little bit closer. 

“I don’t what to do. he’s hurt” she muttered to herself rock gently back and forth. 

“Who’s hurt?” Evan asked. She looked up at Evan her eyes were red and she had dark lines trailing down her face from where her make up started to run because of her tears. 

“My husband, I..I can’t stop the bleeding” She looked down at her trembling hands, which were covered in blood. 

“I..I can’t stop it” She picked up something off the floor slowly pushed her self off of the ground. Immediately Evan halted his advancement towards the girl when he saw the gun in her hand. 

Tyler reappeared from around the corner and Evan quickly waved at him to go back. This lady seemed like she could snap at any minute and having more people in the narrow hallway with weapons could set her off, so Evan decided to play it safe and not involve Tyler with this. 

“Please!” She begged placing her hand onto the doorknob. 

“You have to help him!” She pulled the door open and stepped to the side looking at Evan with a crazed look of desperation. Evan felt his heart jump to his throat when he saw someone standing in the middle of the once closed room. It was what Evan could only assume was the woman’s husband, or what used to be him. 

He had blood running down his neck staining his white button-up shirt, his skin was extremely pale, and his eyes were clouded over. He snarled at Evan as he turned to face him.

The man charged at Evan, his long-dead arms reaching out trying to snag him. Evan panicked, he wanted to call for Tyler or Noah. But the words were stuck in his throat. He barely managed to squeak out the words "Oh Shit!" he pulled the gun out from behind his back and shot at the man. 

He managed to hit him in the shoulder causing the infected to stumble back a bit from the force of impact. "Stop it you're hurting him!" The girl screamed at Evan. The man turned its attention from Evan to the woman who was having a complete mental breakdown in the corner. 

"Watch out!" Evan screamed as the corpse of her former lover reached out to grab her. Evan took another shot, this time it was well aimed and the bullet pierced him right through the back of the head and out the eye. His body fell into a heap in front of the girl's feet. She just stared at his body. 

" you... you killed him," she said quietly her voice shaking. Evan looked away from her he couldn't bear to look at the pain he caused. He really didn't think this situation could get any worse. 

"You killed him!" She screamed her demeanor completely changed and was replaced with anger and insanity. She pointed the gun in her hand at Evan. He didn't have any time to think only to react and he shot her as fast as he could before she had the chance to do the same to him. 

He hit her in the chest and she fell next to her lover dropping her gun and bleeding out. Evan was horrified, his brain was running a mile a minute and raced through thoughts so quickly that they became a cluster fuck of emotions. 

"Evan! Are you okay!" Tyler placed his hands on his shoulder trying to turn him away from the display, his body moved but his head remained glued to the scene before them. The smell of blood filled his lungs and it made him want to puke. 

"Evan! Evan look at me!" Tyler urged him away from the bloody mess and out of the hallway. They slowly walked back into the kitchen and Tyler helped Evan sit down. 

Noah was completely freaking out "Oh my God! What just happened is he all right!" 

"Just shut up already and get me some water" Tyler commanded. Noah threw his backpack off and pulled out a water bottle

“We need to have him lie down,” Tyler said, He didn’t know what to do with Evan, he quickly looked over him and didn’t see any bites or other wounds so he was just in shock. 

He was completely unresponsive to any of Tyler’s calls and was still clutching his gun tightly in his hand. 

“Noah is the only bedrooms down that hall?” Tyler asked. 

“Umm... Ya, I think so” Tyler grimaced and thought of what would happen if he tried to take Evan back down that hallway. 

“Noah come here and help me move him to the couch” Noah rushed over to Evan’s side and awkwardly tried to help him lay down. 

“I just killed someone…” Evan muttered to himself. 

“Evan, she was going to kill you, she was fucking insane!” Tyler said sternly forcing Evan to look at him in the eyes. 

“You don’t know that!” Evan snapped back. He shot up off of the couched and threw his gun across the house, Noah flinched when the gun hit the hardwood floor with a clank. 

“she was grieving, she just watched her husband die right in front of her!” 

“Evan listen to me! She was in grief with a gun pointed at your head, you did what you had to.” Tyler said trying his best not to completely scream at Evan. 

“She was about to fucking kill you and then she might have come after us” Evan let himself fall back onto the couch and held his head in his hands. Tyler let out a sigh of defeat. 

“Come on Noah, I need your help over here.” They walked out of the living room leaving Evan to himself. They both stood in front of the hallway 

“Okay, we need to move these bodies out of the house before they start to rot and shit,” Tyler grumbled. 

Noah completely paled, “We are going to do what now?” Tyler took off his backpack and gun and placed them on the table turning his back to Noah and the hallway entrance. 

“I know you’re a bit squeamish, but we need to get them out of here and he can’t do it so that just leaves you and me, so be ready” Tyler unzipped his backpack and took out a bottle of water, he took a sip mentally preparing himself as well for the horrible sight they were about to witness. 

Evan continued to sit there lost in his thoughts, trying to filter through what just happened. He kept playing the events over and over and over again. He knew Tyler was right, she was about to kill him, but he still felt terrible. 

He just took a life and it was easy, he didn’t even need to think about it, his body just acted, it just knew how to kill, all he had to do was pull the trigger. He didn’t know this lady, so why did he even care about her, but the look of pain and heartache on her face terrified him. Evan slowly started to clear his mind trying to take hold of reality again. Movement caught his eyes, and he looked up. 

His heart practically stopped as the corpse of the woman slowly shuffled out of the hallway. She didn’t see Evan but instead saw Tyler and Noah who had their back to her fiddling with something on the table. 

She reached out towards Noah who was the closes, trying to grab him from behind. They didn’t see her? They didn’t hear her? What the hell were they doing? 

“Noah!” Evan screamed as he shot to his feet completely snapping out of his daze. Noah turned and Evan watched the color drain from his face and he let out the most blood-curdling scream. 

“Duck!” Tyler yelled at Noah he grabbed the shotgun off of the table and took aimed. Noah immediately dropped to the floor, and Tyler fired the gun. Evan ducked down as stray bullets whizzed passed and plant themselves into the wall behind him beaky missing the window. The rest bullets ripped through the lady’s face tearing it to shreds leaving nothing but an unrecognizable stump attached to the top of the body. 

Blood and chunks of flesh splatted all over Tyler, his gun, Noah, and especially the wall, Her body fell back and went limp on the floor. Noah stared at the body shaking with fear and shock. His face was a pale white and his stomach expelled its contents all over the floor. 

Tyler gaged at the blood coving himself and the smell of Noah’s vomit. “

Holy shit." Tyler chocked. 

Evan ran over to them “Are you guys okay!” Noah just shook his head and continued to dry heave. 

“Yea I am fine,” Tyler said trying to wipe the blood off of his face. “are you?” 

“yea…” he said kneeling down and patted Noah on the back trying to comfort him. 

“Come on I’ll help you carry them out,” Evan said crouching down and grabbing her dead limp arms. 

“Are you sure you okay to do that Evan?” “Yes I'm fine, you were right she was unstable and was about to kill us.”

Tyler looked at his friend with concern unconvinced that he was truly okay, before helping him carry the bodies out. They placed the two bodies behind the tree and went back inside. Tyler tested the water in the house and found that it did still run but the electricity was out, so each one of them took turns taking long hot showers trying to rinse the blood off of themselves as best as they could. Evan took the longest but he did finally come out.

Evan sat down next to Tyler in the kitchen looking out through the back doors watching the sun start to set on the horizon. 

“We made a lot of noise today,” Tyler said 

“Yea… but I believe we’ll be fine for now, let's just try and make sure we don’t make too much more.” They continued to look out in the backyard and Tyler would occasionally glance over at Evan and find him staring at the tree. 

Evan finally broke the silence, “I want to bury them.” 

“you want to what?” Tyler asked. 

“I want to give them a proper burial.” Evan said, “I believe that will help me put this behind me.” 

“What about finding Jonathan?” Tyler asked. 

“Well… I figured we could still leave tomorrow but just a bit later.” 

“Okay…” Tyler said, “We could use the time to resupply on some things before we go.” They both got up and walked around the house make sure all the windows were locked before rolling out their sleeping bags in the living room, None of them wanted to cross the gauntlet of blood, vomit, and flesh to get to the bedrooms and Noah was already sleeping on the couch so Evan slept on the floor and Tyler slept on the recliner even though he insisted Evan should.

Evan spent the next morning cleaning the blood and fleshed off the floors and walls, even though Tyler told him it was pointless. Though Evan did his best there was still a light stain on the wall. Then both he and Tyler left to go gather some extra supplies leaving Noah who was still feeling a bit sick from having blood splattered all over himself to watch the house and their stuff. 

Tyler snapped his gun back together finish his story. “And that’s when you showed up”. 

“Yea…”Jonathan said, “I guess it was kind of lucky you guys decided to stay an extra day, we would have totally missed each other.” He glanced back out the window and watched Evan continue digging the hole. 

“Do you think he wants help?” Jonathan asked looking back at Tyler. 

“I offered earlier but he said that he didn’t want any.” Jonathan stood up and looked at the wall 

“He did a good job cleaning up. I didn’t even notice” He then walked off to what he assumed was the garage and grab a shovel of his own. Jonathan walked back to the back door and slid it open. He stepped out and Evan looked up, he continued to walk down the stairs and drove his shovel into the dirt next to Evan and began digging. 

“You don’t have to…” 

“Shut up” Jonathan interrupted and Evan looked away in guilt. “So you know huh..”

“It wasn’t your fault, Shit happens and you just have to accept that, you did what you need to do to survive and protect your friends.” He continued to dig. 

“Have you had to kill someone yet?” Jonathan hesitated for a second. 

“No… I haven’t, not yet at least.” Evan just nodded and they both dug a hole big enough to fit the two corpses. They carried them in and placed them side-by-side. Jonathan stared down at the two bodies and thought about what he had told Evan. He really hadn’t even killed an infected yet. 

Jonathan didn't think he would have a problem killing one of those when it came down to it but, to have to kill a living breathing human. He didn’t know if he could bring himself to do that. With his mind still caught on the thoughts of having to kill someone he and Evan started to fill the hole with dirt sealing its way. 

Soon there was just a small lump of upturned soil in front of them. “

Thanks for that.” Evan said looking at Jonathan. 

“For what digging a hole.” He replied smiling. 

Evan smiled back at that “For being there for me” Jonathan felt his face heat up a bit, before slapping Evan on the back with a cheerful expression, “all ways will be.” 

Tyler clicked the clip into the last gun and was watching Evan and Jonathan talk outside in front of the now covered hole when the sounds of a familiar roar reached his ears. That same roar also reached the ears of every other creature in the general vicinity. Tyler shot from his seat and threw himself to the front window in the living room. 

“My fucking car!” Tyler screamed, three people, stood around Tyler’s car with one of them in the actual driver seat revving the engine. 

“Those fucks hotwired my car!” He bolted toward the door with his side pistol drawn. 

“Tyler no!” Noah screamed at him but he had already thrown the door open and started screaming at the men as loud as he could. Evan and Jonathan could hear all the commotion from the backyard 

“What the hell are they doing in there!” Evan said when they heard both Tyler and Noah screaming. 

“They are making too much noise,” Jonathan said as Evan bolted into the house to tell them to shut up. The car thieves heard Tyler’s yelling and scrabbled into the car when he started to shoot out at them. The car lurched out of the driveway and took off down the street. 

“Come back with my car!” Tyler screamed as he watched his beautiful red Ferrari drive off down the street without him. Evan raced to the front door and had his weapon drawn just in case Tyler was being attacked, but when he stepped outside he instead saw a furious Tyler in the middle of the street swearing and cussing at the top of his lungs. 

“What the fuck just happened and stop making so much noise,” Evan said running up to his fuming friend. 

“I’ll tell you what happened some fuckhead just stole my car!” Tyler continued to yell and Evan just cringed from all the noise he was making as he tried in vain to quiet him down, when you got Tyler mad there was nothing you could do to calm him down except let him come to his senses on his own. 

Jonathan was still in the back yard when he heard a series of familiar taps, but this time it was louder and there were more of them. The taps and banging on the wooden fence was then followed by a long creak as the flimsy wooden fence swayed back and forth more violently this time. 

There was a large crack and the wooden fence split and half the fence fully fell over twisting in the middle because the other half was still standing. And with the falling of the fence, the bodies of the dead also fell into view. Jonathan stood there a bit in complete shock by the sheer number of them. 

“Oh Fuck!”


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Hello! I’ve got another chapter done finally! I had a really hard time trying to find a place to end this chapter, so this is definitely one of the longest one I’ve written so far. I’m a bit curious if you would prefer longer chapters that take a bit longer to come out or shorter ones that come out a bit more frequently. Anyways let me know what you think, and I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry for any errors I might have missed, I was super tired when I edited this one.

The fence fell and the dead poured into the back yard. Jonathan stood there for a second in complete shock as the wave of the dead rushed toward him. He turned and booked it back to the house as fast as he could, but to the dead were not far behind.

Jonathan skidded into the house and franticly rushed to push the door closed. Some of the infected managed to get a few limbs in between the door not allowing it to shut no matter how hard Jonathan pushed. Jonathan looked up frantically for help but felt his heart sink when he saw the front door open. Jonathan sucked in a breath and screamed out Evan’s name praying for him to hear him.

Evan who was still outside trying to calm down Tyler and coax him back inside froze when he was heard his name being shouted. He cringed at the noise. Why the hell, was everyone being so loud he thought as he quickly started running back to the house dragging Tyler along behind Him. "Evan!" Jonathan screamed again as he desperately tries to close the door. Evan ran in through the front door and froze when he saw the dead through the glass.

"Holy Shit!" he said and quickly ran to Jonathan’s side to help keep the door close. "Tyler!” Even yelled as he walked in through the front door and closed it behind him “get the ax!” he yelled. “Ax! What Fucking ax! " Tyler responded in a panic. “in the garage by the Shovels! Hurry!”

Tyler quickly ran past them and through the door that led out into the garage. " What the hell!" Even growled, "why is there so many of them?" Jonathan ground his teeth "I think this is the hoard I ran into on my way here" he said. "you ran into this on foot! Shit man, " Evan responded. “Yeah there were a lot of them and I managed to get away from them with some help, but it looks like they followed me" He said.

Evan and Jonathan felt the door start to slide open a bit more "Tyler! Hurry up with that ax! " Evan screamed. One of the wedged limbs managed to grab Evan’s arm and started to dig its nails into his flesh. He let out a scream of pain before yelling Tyler's name again. Noah stepped out from the bedroom hallway his hands shaking as he tried to aim his pistol at the arm grabbing Evan.

Noah fired just as Tyler ran in holding the ax. The bullet missed and instead pierced through the panel of glass on the door causing it to crack like a spider’s web. Evan and Jonathan stared at the crack in horror as Tyler ran forward and brought the ax down clearing the way for the door to slide closed. Jonathan stumbled back from the door but with each fist against the door, the crack grew larger. He glanced over of Noah who had gone completely pale still clutching the gun "Oh my God, Oh my God, we're going to die!”

Jonathan looked back at the door dread and fear Starting to take hold as the crack continued to spread. Evan grabbed Jonathan by the hand and started dragging him back towards the hallway grabbing Noah as well. Just as they reached the hallway the door caved in allowing the dead inside. Tyler rushed back into the garage slamming the door shut while Evan managed to shove Jonathan and Noah into the bedroom before locking the door.

Evan leaned against the door trying to calm down only to jump when the dead began to pound on the other side. Jonathan swallowed “They can't break through that door right” Evan shook his head " I don't know, but we are not waiting around to find out.” Jonathan looked at Evan like he was Crazy as he walked to the window and threw it open. “Are you insane!” Noah yelled clearly still panicking "why would we go out there when we are safe here?"

Evan started picking his bags off the floor "we don't know that" Evan replied, "That door may not be able to hold, and I would like to get out of here before we get surrounded.” Jonathan picked his bags up as well “besides, Tyler is by himself, we need to get to him.”

Noah was clearly still terrified about the idea of going out there and Jonathan would be fooling himself if he said he didn't feel the same. Evan took a breath and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder "I get it, I'm scared too but we need to move. I promise I won't let anything happen to you okay.” Evan said trying to give a comforting smile.

Noah’s expression didn't change but he nodded and quickly picked up his own bag. "okay... " Evan said trying to steel his own nerves. “Let’s get Tyler and get the hell out of dodge!" Evan went out the window first and landed with a soft thud, his backpack rustling against his clothes. He had his pistol drawn and quickly motioned for Jonathan to go next. Jonathan swallowed and tossed his second bag to Evan who caught it with ease.

Jonathan then went out the window and landed right next to Evan. Jonathan took his bag from Evan and did his best to secure it to himself in a way that wouldn’t bother him too much when they had to run. Noah was still hesitant and nearly fell flat on his face when trying to go through the window.

Once Evan helped Noah regain his footing the three of them quickly made their way to the front of the house and out into the middle of the Street. Jonathan started to make his way towards Tyler's car but froze when he didn't see the bright red vehicle anywhere. “Where the hell is the car!” He quietly hissed. "It got stolen a few minutes ago” Evan growled desperately looking around for Tyler and a safe place for them to go.

Jonathan looked behind them and could see the dead starting to make their way down the side of the house. Jonathan could feel his heart start to pick up speed as more of the infected starter to appear from the other houses in front of them and flood out into the street. "Shit! Where's Tyler we're sitting ducks out here Evan!" Jonathan said starting to back up. “There!” Evan interrupted pointing to Tyler who had barely managed to jump over an iron gate before the dead crashed into the metal bars behind him.

Tyler saw them and started to change his course when an infected stepped out in front of him blocking his path. Tyler took the ax he was still holding and brought it down on the creature’s head. It collapsed as he split its skull. Tyler struggled to free the ax as a group of infected started making their way towards him. "Come on!" Evan yelled and started running towards Tyler. Jonathan started to follow but he happened to look back and saw Noah still standing there completely overcome with fear.

Jonathan stopped and quickly ran back to Noah and grabbed him snapping him out of his trance. They turned to follow Evan but stopped when they realized that they were cut off and the dead had gotten extremely close. “Shit!” Jonathan screamed pulling Noah back and catching Evan’s attention. Evan looked back and watched in horror as Jonathan barely managed to dodge the infected’s grasp and start running with Noah towards one of the houses across the street.

Evan didn’t know what he could do he was completely cut off from them and Tyler still needed his help. Evan gritted his teeth turned back to Tyler and started firing his pistol into the group killing a few of them buying Tyler just enough time to get away and start running down the street. "Tyler wait!” Evan called out but he was already too far away to hear him over the sounds of his pistol and the growls of the dead.

Evan started running after him hoping to catch up to him before they got too far away from Jonathan and Noah to help them. But with each step, Evan couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and that he was abandoning his friends.

Jonathan barely managed to not get grabbed himself as he pulled Noah out of the way of the infected and started running for the house across the street. They ran up to the front door and Jonathan desperately jerked the doorknob, but it was locked. “Fuck!” Jonathan said in a panic. But Noah pulled out few strange tools and shoved them into the lock and began to pick it as his hands shook violently.

The dead were quickly approaching, and Jonathan reached down and pulled the pistol out of the side of Noah’s backpack and aimed it. The gun felt oddly natural in his hands despite never actually holding a real gun before and he pulled the trigger at the nearest infected. Odd clicking sound could be heard but no bullet came out. “fucking safety!” Jonathan panicked and fumbled for the switch. This time when Jonathan pulled the trigger the bullet flew out and slammed into the head of the infected killing it.

Jonathan continued to fire into the oncoming hoard and though he was doing well, there was still too many of them. "Hurry up!” Jonathan yelled and Noah only let out a squeak in reply. Jonathan fired the gun again but this time nothing happened, and he felt his heart sink. "I'm out!” He cried. He could see Noah’s already pale face somehow grow whiter. Jonathan looked back at the hoard and shut his eyes when they were within arm’s reach expecting the end, only for them to snapback open when Noah yelled, “got it!”

Jonathan shoved the door open pulling Noah in as fast as he could. He turned to slam the door shut but the dead pushing against the other side wouldn’t allow it to completely shut. The dead pressed against it and Jonathan desperately tried to keep it from swinging open. He kept all his weight against the door as the infected pushed on the other side.

"Noah! Help!' Jonathan called but Noah just frantically shook his head and start running towards the back door. "Wait! Wait! Where are you going! " Jonathan screamed his feet slipping on the hardwood floor. Noah threw open the back door and ran outside into the forest beyond. "Wait! You Bastard! Don’t leave me!” Jonathan's foot slipped more, and he felt his heart lurch into his throat. 

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Jonathan yelled to himself panic starting to set in. "He fucking left me. He just fucking left me!" Jonathan tried to push the door closed with everything he had but it wouldn't budge. ”Okay, Okay” Jonathan said to himself “Don’t Panic, you're not out of options yet" Jonathan's brain raced through scenario after scenario trying to come up with a plan and found himself staring at the now open back door. 

“Come on Jonathan,” He said to himself "you're faster than them! you can make it!” Jonathan slowly started to shift his position and mentally prepared himself for the risk he was about to take. He took a deep breath and pushed himself off of the door and sprinted towards the back door. He heard the door swing open and slam against the wall behinds him as the dead flooded in after him. Jonathan leaped out the back door slamming it behind him before continuing to sprint into the forest. 

He ran for what felt like forever. His heart pounding in his ears and his breathing burned his lungs with each breath. Jonathan stumbled due to the uneven terrain and when he finally thought he caught his balance something caught his foot causing fall to the forest floor. Jonathan panicked this situation being all too familiar and frantically kicked at the thing twisted around his foot. 

His foot met soft fabric and Jonathan stopped when he got a good look at what he was kicking. It was a black backpack that he immediately recognized as Noah’s. Jonathan unhooked his foot from the strap of the backpack and took a minute to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. Jonathan fought away the feeling of panic knowing if he kept acting on impulse, he was going to get himself killed. 

Jonathan slowly got back to his feet the weight of his bags made want to sink back down and not move for the rest of his life. He looked down at Noah's and groaned. He grabbed the bag by the strap and started dragging Noah's bag. "The kid’s got to be around here somewhere” Jonathan mumbled. He was extremely hesitant to call Noah’s name, not wanting to make any unnecessary noises. 

Honestly, he didn't even know why he was even looking for him. He had just left him to die a few minutes ago, but something in his guts told him to find him, and he would regret it if he didn't at least try. Jonathan continued to walk through the forest with a cautious eye and Noah’s gun by his side until he came across a small stream. He crouched down by the stream and splash the cold liquid onto his face to cool himself off. He then stood back up and lifted up Noah’s backpack so that it wouldn't get wet and crossed over the stream. 

Something caught Jonathan’s attention and he stood very still and tried scanning and listening for anything out of the ordinary clutch the gun by his side. He didn’t see anything, but he could have sworn he heard something off in the distance. Jonathan started to walk again his ears hyper-focused on the strange noise he could hear and as he started to get closer it morphed into a clear cry for help. 

Once Jonathan locked on to the direction of the sound, he took off in a full sprint towards it. As he got closer, He could hear the desperate pleads and horrifying screams of Noah. Jonathan continued to run forward and each scream he heard sent chills down his spine and they were extremely close it almost sounded like they were right below him. 

Jonathan just happened to glance down and noticed that the ground disappeared a few feet in front of him. Jonathan shoved his heels into the dirt trying to stop his momentum before it carried him right over the edge. Jonathan instinctively grabbed a hold of a tree that was growing at the very edge of the cliff keep him from falling when he's foot slipped off the edge. 

“Holy Fucking Shit! " Jonathan swore still clinging to the tree. He stared down at the 15-foot drop and felt his stomach start to twist. Noah laid at the bottom of the ravine his leg twisted in old angles. A woman was crouched over him digging her hands into his gut tearing out flesh and shoving it into her mouth. Noah continues to scream trying to push the infected away but it was useless.

Jonathan gagged and forced himself to look away, scrambling away from the ledge of the Cliff. He tried to shut out the screams, but he couldn't, all he could think of was how the poor kid didn't see the cliff and how close he was to meet the same fate. Jonathan looked back towards the edge and noticed that the screaming had stopped. 

Jonathan turned away from the cliff again gripped his stomach as he slowly started to walk away from the cliff. He felt sick and his mind continued to hear the screams even though they had stopped, and he quickly realized he probably won't be forgetting them anytime soon. His eyes were glued to the forest floor thoughts still racing. 

"Jonathan!” He froze in place and looked up to See Evan standing there. "I heard screaming, is everything okay? Where’s Noah?” He said walking closer to Jonathan and placing his hands on his shoulders. Jonathan paled a bit and shook his head never taking his eyes off the ground "He's dead" He whispered looking back at the cliff. "What!" Evan said in shock and let go of Jonathan. Who continued to stare at the ground as Evan ran around him and to the edge of the cliff. "Oh god," Evan said stepping back from the edge. 

”I... I... I promised him, " He said guilt filling his voice. "Evan, It's not your fault." Jonathan said walking up to his friend "There was nothing you could have done.” ”Nothing!" Evan Snapped " Really! There was nothing I could have done!” He yelled and started to pace back and forth. "Evan.” Jonathan said trying to reach for his distraught friend, but he just ignored him. "I never should have left you guys, I should have made sure...” 

"Evan!" Jonathan yelled grabbing his friend by the shoulders forcing him to stop, "I get it your upset, but now is not the time to dwell on this. We aren't safe here!” He said his voice filled with concern but also sternness. "The hoard is not that far away, and we still need to find Tyler. 

Evan’s eyes flashed when Jonathan mentioned Tyler's name and he seemed to come back to his senses. Evan took a deep breath and recomposed himself. "You're right Tyler is still out there, and we need to find somewhere safe before it gets dark." Evan reached down and picked Noah's bag and slung it over his shoulder.   
Jonathan frown at Evan as he started to walk away. He glanced back at the cliff and shook his head before jogging lightly to catch up with Evan. 

They walked through the forest for hours calling for Tyler. Leaves and sticks crunched with under Jonathan's feet as he maneuvered his way around trees and bushes following Evan closely through the forest. Jonathan tilted his head up and stared at the darkening sky above them. 

"Let's face it” Jonathan whined ” we’re lost " "I don't think we are” Evan responded looking back at Jonathan. ” your map showed another town just north of where we were." Jonathan shook his head and crossed his arms "We should have been there already." 

Evan took a minute and looked around before letting out a deep tired sigh. "I guess you’re right," He said sliding his and Noah's backpack off of his back. ”do you really think we put enough distance between us and that hoard," Evan asked as he crouched down and started to shuffle through his bag. Jonathan looked over his shoulder at the thick forest behind him and hesitated. 

The thought of the hoard sneaking up on them as they slept gave him goosebumps, but he shook them off. "yeah.” Jonathan said looking back at Evan "I think we did." Evan nodded "Okay then," He said clapping his hands together "Let's get something set up then before it gets dark” Jonathan nodded and slipped his own bags off and placed them next to Evan’s. " So, what's the plan then," Jonathan asked "are we going to hang up empty cans like in the walking dead" Jonathan added half-joking. Evan was silent for a moment, "why not!”. Evan said smiling, "you're not serious," Jonathan said placing his hands on his hips. 

"well why not?" Evan said,” It would work.” He started digging through his bag and pulled out some rope and tossed it to Jonathan. " We don't have very many cans, but I'm sure we can use something else, like sticks or rocks.” Jonathan looked at the rope and shrugged his shoulders "Okay then how many cans do we have?” He asked. "hmm ...” Evan said as he searched through his bag and Noah’s. " I've got 4 empty ones,” he said pulling them out "how about you? " Evan asked and Jonathan used, his hand to single a big fat zero. ”I have some cans but none of them are empty” 

" hmm, I guess 4 should work plus we might have some more after dinner.” Jonathan's stomach growled at the near mention of food, Evan laughed and Jonathan felt his cheeks turn a fiery red "Shut up!" he joked covering his stomach with his arms ”All I've had is a fricken tomato today" Evan put up his hands and tried to stifle his laughter " I know, I know, I'm pretty hungry too" Evan looked at the four empty before picking them up. 

”Tell you what." He said tossing the cans to an unsuspecting Jonathan who fumbled and dropped them. "you set up the security and I'll try to get a fire going and make dinner." Jonathan picked up the cans and gave Evan a look. "you know how to start a fire?" "yes..." Evan said "you don't? " 

Jonathan just smiled and shook his head before turning away to get to work. He unwrapped the rope and started to wrap it around the bases of the surrounding trees and leaving loose ends to tie cans, rocks, and sticks to closer to Camp. He watched Evan come and go only to return with more sticks and fallen lumber for the fire. He piled the wood up in a small section that he cleared of debris. He stared at the pile rubbing at the back of his head. 

“What happened to knowing how to start a fire" Jonathan joked as he continued to fuss with the rope. "It's been a while okay!” Evan responded still staring at the pile of wood "I'm just trying to remember the steps" Jonathan set the rope down and walked over to Evan and crouched down beside the wood "don't you need that stuff to light this" Jonathan said looking up at Evan who gave him a deadpan look. 

”you are being so helpful right now” He said sarcastically, "No I'm serious " Jonathan said but he couldn't help but laugh a little," What's that thing we used in games before to make campfires.” He said but Evan was still drawing a blank. "uhh... I think it's named after that one dating app” He added trying to think of something else, "you mean tinder? " Evan asked raising an eyebrow but his expression quickly changes to one of realization. "oh!! you're right!" Evan Said slapping his palm against his forehead "I can't believe I forgot about that! Hang on, I saw a good clump of those long pine needles when I was looking for sticks. Those will work perfectly." He said and started walking to the east of camp. 

Jonathan rolled his eyes and smiled as he watched Evan leave and felt mildly proud of himself for figuring that out. He stood up and walked back over to the rope he had set down and started to finish up the makeshift security and in just a few minutes he was tying the last rock to the east side alarm ”System”. 

He took a step back and smiled at his handy work. He then went around and tested each side to make sure it was working, before returning to the unlit fire. It had only been a few minutes but how far was this tinder Evan was talking about. Jonathan sat down on the forest floor and continued to wait. He knew he hadn't waited long but it still felt like forever. 

The sun had only just set, and the forest was starting to lose its color to the shadow of night. Everything seemed muted and grey only adding to its eeriness, and Jonathan found himself thinking about how they were going to have to sleep in the complete open. 

Sure one of them was going to keep watch but... Jonathan looked up at the east side hodgepodge of an alarm system and felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of hearing them rattle in the dead of night. Just as Jonathan went to look away the can and rocks jerked up and clattered together smacking against the tree. 

Jonathan jumped to his feet and pulled out Noah's pistol as the alarm continued to rattle. His heart was racing a million miles a minute until he heard Evan swearing. Jonathan let out a sigh of relief and put his pistol away before walking over to the perimeter where he saw Evan with leaves in his hair trying to untangle the rope from his foot. 

Jonathan laughed as he walked closer to help him. ”Well at least we know it works now, but seriously what took you so long?” Jonathan asked as he helped Evan back up to his feet. "I forgot where it was,” Evan said as they walked back over to the pile of wood. Evan got to work, and Jonathan sat back down on the ground and watched closely. 

Evan pulled out his lighter and lit the dried-out pine needles before shoving them underneath the pile of wood. Smoke starter to pour out from under the sticks and soon flames could be seen. "Hell yeah!” Evan said “I knew I still had it” Jonathan laughed along and scooted a bit closer to the fire. Evan pulled out a can of beans and froze looking at the fire. ”you know... I'm not too sure how to do this" He said "what do you mean..." 

”well it's not like we have a pan or anything and in games, we just get a small bar that says cooking.” Evan said. ”so do I just put the can in the fire” 

”I think it has to go over it” Jonathan replied, ”not in it” Evan was silent for a moment, ”Nah it’ll be fine,” he said and Jonathan shook his head ”at least open the can so it doesn't explode on us” Evan nodded and managed to pry the lid off with a knife that Jonathan handed him before placing it as close to the base of the fire as he could. "Damn that's hot,” he said shaking his hand as he pulled it away. ”note to self, get a pan" 

Jonathan grinned "maybe we should make a list of things we need,” he said pulling his bags closer Evan nodded "agreed," he said and started looking through his and Noah's bag. Jonathan didn't have to go through his bag like Evan, He remembered almost everything he packet. Evan mostly did too but he wasn't really too sure what was in Noah’s bag. 

He opened it up and dumped its contents on to the forest floor, there actually wasn't that much in it, the bulk of the bag was mostly made up of the sleeping bag, few clothing bits, pieces of food, a crappy flashlight and a few other objects Jonathan couldn’t make out in the light of the fire. 

Jonathan watched Evan continued to sort through things and felt strangely content. It was still weird and a bit nerve-racking to be sitting in the middle of a dark forest that was potentially filled with the dead that wanted to eat them. But every time he looked up at Evan he all most seem to forget that. Watching the light of the flames dance on Evan’s tan skin and brown eyes almost made him feel like he was in a trance and it took every ounce of will not to stare and push away the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. 

"Here,” Evan said snapping him out of his thoughts "Catch” Jonathan looked up and got a face full of fabric as he missed what Evan tossed him and it landed on the floor next to him. Evan laughed and Jonathan could feel the butterflies starting to return, 

"shut up.." Jonathan said “I wasn't ready” Evan stopped laughing but was still smiling "sorry" Jonathan picked up the sleeping bag and looked over it "why did you give me this,” He asked. "Well I thought it would be better if we each consolidated to one bag,” he said. “I just think it would be more efficient and safer that way” “oh,” Jonathan said. 

Evan was right, now that he had a sleeping bag, he didn't need all those blanks he had. Jonathan pulled his bag closer to him and pulled out his pillow. He then unwrapped the sleeping bag and laid it down on the forest floor semi-close to the fire before placing the pillow on top. Jonathan then looked over at the rest of the blankets in the bag. "Do you think I should keep at least one extra blanket?” he asked and Evan nodded "I would, plus I don't think it will take up that much room if you wrap it up with the pillow and sleeping bag and then hook it to the back of the backpack.” 

Jonathan nodded and pulled out one folded blanket and placed it next to the sleeping bag. “Oh, and here take this” Evan tossed a small black object to Jonathan and this time he managed to catch. “Use it sparingly, that’s all we’ve got left” he added with a nervous laugh. Jonathan looked down at the clip on his hands and nodded. “I will,” he said and shoved it into his pocket. Evan then went about setting his own sleeping bag and Jonathan took the time to move the rest of his clothes into one bag and dump the rest of the blankets. 

Jonathan then managed to roll up the now empty bag and tied it with some leftover rope. He then shoved it into the side of his backpack just in case he needed an extra bag at some point down the line. Soon the beans were cooked and they both sat around the fire passing the can back and forth until it was gone. 

Jonathan stood up and stretched his arms and legs. He could feel exhaustion wanting to overtake him, but he knew it was still going to be a few hours before he was able to get some sleep. “So, I guess I'll be taking first shift,” Jonathan said trying to hold back a yawn. Evan gave him a deadpan look. "What?” Jonathan questioned and Evan shook his head “you look like you're going to pass out any minute” Evan said smiling. “I’ll take the first shift.” 

“No way!” Jonathan said "I'm not letting you pull what you did last night again! You need some sleep. “Jon I'm serious let me take the first shift I promise I’ll wake you up.” Jonathan felt like he suddenly got punched in the gut and froze. Evan gave him a confused and concerning look. "What did you call me?” Evan’s eyes widened "I’m sorry I didn't mean to offend you or anything I just...” 

“No, it's fine" Jonathan interrupted “you didn't say anything offensive at all, I just wasn’t expecting that." “Are you okay with me calling you Jon at times?” Evan asked and Jonathan mulled over it. "yeah I guess... I don't know I have mixed feelings about it.” 

“Why? If you don't mind me asking” and Jonathan bit at his lip trying to decide how much he wanted to tell Evan. “I don't really like talking about it, but long story short someone who I really don't like use to call me that.” Jonathan said crossing his arms almost defensively. "oh..." Evan said hints of guilt in his voice. "but that's all in the past now” Jonathan said, “And I’ve got to get over it, so yes I'm okay with you calling me Jon.” Evan shook his head "I don't want to call you something that bothers you.” 

“don't worry about it,” Jonathan said, “I promise it won't bother me," He said with a small smile. Evan gave him a skeptical look “are you sure?” Jonathan nodded and Evan seemed to accept it. “Okay then, since I believe you, do you believe me when I say I promise to wake you up. Jonathan frowned “of course I believe you, it’s just I don't like the idea of you getting first shift again." 

Evan grinned “I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine, now hurry up and go to bed.” Jonathan let out a sigh of defeat turned around and made his way over to his sleeping bag. He took off his shoes and started to slip into the sleeping bag only to stop and grab something out of his bag. 

Evan watched as he pulled out a small brown teddy bear and his best to hold in a laugh “you really sleep with that” Jonathan felt his cheek's heat up with embarrassment “yes! now shut up and keep your eye out for things that want to eat us!" Evan put his hands up in defense "Hey I'm not judging I think it's cute.” he said smirking. Jonathan felt his cheeks heat up even more at that said nothing as he laid down and pulled up the zipper of the sleeping bag. 

"Good Night,” Evan said and Jonathan returned the gesture. He positioned himself so that his back faced the fire and he stared into the black forest around him. He could feel memories he long tied to forget start to claw their way to the surface as he thought about what Evan called him. Jonathan fought to shove them away, telling himself it was just a stupid name and that he shouldn't be getting so worked up over it. Jonathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to relax. Hopefully, he'll start associating that nickname with Evan and forget the past. 

The night flew by and Evan did keep his promise and traded places with Jonathan a little after 2 in the morning. Jonathan boiled a little bit of coffee over the remnants of the roaring they had last night. He heard rustling and turned to see Evan sitting up rubbing at his still sleepy eyes. "Morning” Jonathan said handing Evan a cup of the hot coffee. Evan smiled and took the cup.

Jonathan sat down by the burnt-out fire sipping his own cup savoring the warm liquid. Once they finished the coffee, they got to work taking down the camp and was on the move again in about an hour. They passed the time by coming up with a list of supplies they should be on the lookout for as they continued to walk through the forest. 

"Okay that should be about it,” Jonathan said looking at the list he wrote on the back cover of his map book. “go over it one more time, please,” Evan asked, and Jonathan nodded, “we've got pans, food, ammo, water, find some sort of fire starter, find a portable filter for water and that’s about it.” 

“Really in three hours, that's all we got?” Evan said in disbelief. “yep...” Jonathan said looking over the list again “do you think we should add...” “Wait!” Evan said stopping in his tracks holding his hand up for Jonathan to stop too. "do you hear that?" Jonathan froze and listened. He did notice an odd sound in the distance. “yeah ... what is it?” 

Evan strained his ear trying to make it out. It almost sounds like... Evan’s eyes widened, and he took off in a full out sprint towards the sound. Jonathan was taken aback by Evan's quick departure and started to sprint after him struggling to keep up. As they ran the sounds become more one more clear and the high pitch screams of a little girl rang in Jonathan’s ears. Evan started to run even faster and it took everything Jonathan had to stay within at least 10 yards of him. 

Evan ran through a patch of bushes and saw a small girl pressed up against a group of boulders as an infected with broken legs crawled closer scratching at her legs trying to bite her. Evan ran towards her and pulled her away from the creature before it had a chance to bite her. 

Instead the infected turned its wrath towards Evan and it grabbed his leg and bite down on his shoe. Evan let out a yelp of fear and tried to kick it away, but it held on still gnawing on his shoe. Jonathan finally managing to catch up and burst through the bushes and saw Evan holding the crying girl while trying to kick the dead that had latched onto his shoe away. 

Jonathan pulled his knife out of his hoodie’s pocket and shoved it deep into the creature’s skull causing it to let go of Evan and stop moving. Evan lost his footing and fell back. He stayed that way still holding the girl trying to catch his breath. "are you okay!” Jonathan asked through his own panting extending a hand to help Evan up. 

“Yeah I think so," He said letting Jonathan pull him to his feet allowing the girl to stand on her own who was still sniffling and trying to wipe away tears. Evan crouched down to the girl’s level and quickly examined her for any bites and besides a few scratches he didn't see anything worrisome. “are you okay?” Evan asked and the girl nodded in response still hiccupping from crying. 

"where's your...” the bushes behind them rustled and Evan shot to his feet keeping the girl behind him as a man holding a rifle came bursting through the bushes and immediately aimed the weapon at Evan and Jonathan "get away from her!” He snarled. "Wait this is not what it looks like!” Jonathan started. “Now!” The man yelled ignoring him. Both Evan and Jonathan slowly put their hands up and stepped away from the girl as the man followed them with the rifle. 

The bushes rustled again and more people came running out with guns all aimed at them. A woman pushed her way through the group and ran forward and practically falling to her knees in front of the little girl crying pulling her into a hug. “what the hell were you trying to do to her!” The man yelled still pointing his gun at them. Evan went to speak but was interrupted by someone from behind the man yelling to wait. Tyler came running forward and stood between them on the gun. 

“They're with me!" he said trying to get him to lower the rifle "These are the type of people you travel with!” he yelled "I knew you weren't to be trusted," he said not lowering the gun. Tyler's temper started to boil “now you listen here!" Tyler said sternly " I don't take kindly to you throwing these types of accusations at my friends! So, if you would shut up for a second and let them explain, I'm sure we'll realize this is just a big misunders...” Tyler was cut off by the women screaming and desperately pulling her child away from the dead corpse of the infected. 

One of the men closest to her pushed her away and aimed his pistol of it but stopped when he noticed the knife sticking out of its skull. He cautiously stepped closer to it and kicked it with his boot. When it didn't move, he let out a sigh of relief and lowered his gun. 

"It's dead," He said to the group and the man with rifle looked past Tyler to Jonathan and Evan. “Did you to this?” they both nervously nodded and the man eyed Jonathan who’s hand still had bits of blood on it from when he had stabbed it. The man lowered his gun and Jonathan let go of the breath he was holding “I'm Sorry” he said turning away “and thanks” 

He walked back out of the bushes and the rest quickly followed. Jonathan walked over to the corpse and he grimaced as he pulled his knife back out. He wiped on the blade on a nearby leaf before shoving it back in his pocket. “Talk about friendly" he muttered, and Tyler just shook his head and huffed. “yeah he’s an asshole, and not really a talker.” Tyler said crossing his arms “but you'll have to excuse him, they've been robbed by a bunch of bandits recently and lost a few people so they have a hard time trusting new people,” Tyler said "I mean well, just look what they did to me,” He added smiling pointing at a big bruise he had on his face "It was on accident, sort of... but I'm Still pissed, " He said as he started walking out of the bushes. 

Both Jonathan and Evan followed him and after a couple of minutes, a camp came into view. "I stumbled across it last night,” Tyler said as they walked into the camp “most of the people are nice but, a little tense,” Tyler said turning back to the two “but man, am I glad to see you guys are okay,” he said smiling and pulling them in for a hug. 

He broke off the hug and looked behind the two ”Where's Noah?" his expression grew very sober as he asked but from the tone in his voice he already knew the answer. Evan looked away and Jonathan just shook his head. ” Damn ...” Tyler said shaking his head ”Well! On a brighter note you're not going to believe this” he said, "Wait here” He quickly turned and ran around the corner deeper into the camp. 

Jonathan turned to Evan ”What do you think it's?” But Evan just ignored him and kept his arms crossed, an angry look spreading across his face. "Evan?" Jonathan questioned waving his hand in front of him. Evan blinked and the angry look vanished. ”I'm sorry what?" He asked uncrossing his arms. ”what's wrong” he asked but Evan just waved it off ”nothing” He said but Jonathan wasn't buying it "that face you were making wasn't nothing" Evan raised an eyebrow. ”I was making a face” He questioned and Jonathan nodded ”yeah you looked pissed” Evan's eyes widened a bit before he closed them and let out a deep sigh pitching the bridge of his nose. 

”what's wrong?” Jonathan repeated and Evan was silent for a second before responding "I... I Just don't get how Tyler could take Noah’s death so lightly” Evan said frustration built up in his voice. ”I mean come on he barely reacted,” Jonathan thought about it for a second ”Everybody handles that sort of news differently, and it's not like he actually saw how he died,” Jonathan said ”I'm sure it does bothers him in some way” 

”Yeah but how could he be so cold about it, " Evan said. “I wouldn’t really call that reaction cold” Jonathan answered. "I mean he barely knew the kid,” He said but Evan shook his head "I don't know it just doesn't seem normal." Jonathan mulled over that for a second “Have you ever considered that your reaction isn't normal?” Jonathan said and Evan gave him a surprised look “What!" He said, “what's that supposed to mean.” Jonathan wanted to respond but he saw Tyler quickly approaching “we'll talk more about this later Tyler's coming back” Evan didn't look too happy about leaving the conversion like that but nodded and looked up to see Tyler walking towards them with someone behind him. 

Both Evan and Jonathan immediately recognized the man and felt smiles stretch across their faces. He was shorter than them especially Tyler and built a bit heavier. He had a beard outlining his round face and a bright smile of his own is they approached. “Anthony!” Both Evan and Jonathan said at the same time and hugged the bigger man. 

“Evan!” Anthony said hugging him back, but he looked up at Jonathan awkwardly. He then looked over at Tyler and faked whispered so that Everyone actually could hear him. “who is this guy and why is he hugging me" Jonathan broke off the hug one and put his hand over his heart pretending to be hurt. “Anthony, I'm so hurt.” He said but he couldn't help but laugh. And no one could mistake that recognizable laugh. 

“Oh my God Delirious!” He said and quickly hugged him back. “So that's what you look like, not bad might I add,” He said and Jonathan blushed a little but nodded in appreciation. “Well come on I'll show you around camp.” He said and they started following him. Jonathan lagged behind a bit and watched Evan talk to Anthony. He couldn't stop thinking about how he might have offended him with his comments. “Maybe your reaction isn't normal. God, Why the hell did I say that.” Jonathan mentally Cursed at himself 

“maybe next time I should just keep my mouth shut.”


End file.
